How Volunteering For a Reforestation Charity Changed The Way I Live
June 2021
Zoom With A Seal, A Sloth And A Chimp
Hello and welcome to my first blog post! I'm Bethany and I'm a designer, rabbit-lover and sustainability enthusiast. This website is a space for me to present work that I am proud of and talk about things that I want to share. I love trying new creative things and think it's been so important this last year in particular to try and do some different things, even if that means from the confines of our own home. With that in mind here is a little bit about one of the new things I've tried this year; some animal-themed art workshops that I have absolutely loved!
April 2021
No it's not the basis of a cheesy cracker joke, it's the new reality of social occasions during lockdown. As staying in has become the norm for the majority of the last year, we've adapted to do most things from home - shopping, pub quizzes, catch-ups with friends, work meetings, so why not visiting a wildlife reserve as well? Meet Wildlife Drawing, an organisation whose name pretty much says it all, they run drawing workshops with a wildlife theme. Whilst the days of sitting in an art studio as a group are on hold for now, this business has adapted in a brilliant way to keep their art and animal appreciation alive. Running drawing workshops on Zoom, they partner with a variety of Animal Charities and rescue centres to offer a live drawing session, allowing you to get up close and personal with some animal friends from the safety of your sofa.
The first week I joined we 'visited' the Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and met a baby chimp called Mary, who was very co-operative about being sketched whilst having her nap! I wasn't sure what to expect but found it a wonderful experience to shake up my usual weekend routine (a tall order these days!), and a lovely relaxing atmosphere to do a bit of sketching. Seeing so many other people join in from their homes too was nice to have a bit of connection!
Having enjoyed it so much I decided to join the next week's session and I've never been so excited to join a zoom meeting as I was to log on with the Cornish Seal Sanctuary and, with the guidance of artist Jennie Webber, learn how to sketch some seal pups from life. What a wonderful, creative way to spend a morning, whilst learning more about the rescues work and of course about their adorable seals. Every year they rescue over 70 grey seals, for varying reasons such as injury, entanglement, malnourishment, and release them back into the sea when recovered.[1]
Session 3 that I joined was...sloths! Possibly the cutest thing you've ever seen is a ball of baby sloths snoozing together. We tuned in with Jaguar Rescue Centre (link) in Costa Rica and the session, hosted as usual by Wildlife Drawing's Jennie, taught us the basics of sketching the furry creatures as well as lots of interesting sloth facts - did you know they only come down to the ground for 2 reasons; to pick up a baby that has fallen, and to go to the toilet just once a week!
The workshops are very popular, but aside from bringing joy to so many people that attend them, they offer an innovative fund raising method for the charities that Wildlife Drawing partner with. Half of every session fee goes directly to each charity, which I imagine is a wonderful support to them, at a time when fundraisers are very difficult.
I think it's so important to keep trying new, creatively stimulating things, now more than ever, and Wildlife Drawing has adapted incredibly well to keep providing this. And whilst I may not have been able to visit in person, for now I'll take what I can get, from the safety of my own sofa.
[1] https://sealsanctuary.sealifetrust.org/en/
Photos screenshots from Wildlife Drawing online workshops and photos of own artwork.