David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

WILDLIFE ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2026

ENVIRONMENTAL ARTIVISM   LUMINARY CHOICE AWARD

It was already exciting to have 2 pieces of work reach the final of the truly iconic DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year 2026 exhibition, but I was shocked as well as deeply honoured when 'You don't know what you've got until it's gone' was awarded Luminary Choice by the wonderful ceramic artist and DSWF Luminary Lisa Stevens. 

The Environmental Artivism category:

' enables artists to use their platform to share work and their thoughts on the issues facing wildlife in this Anthropocene. This category invites honest discussion and the ability to shed light, unpack, and determine some of the more pressing environmental topics of our time. It can also be a celebration of how art can be used as a positive tool for effective and emotive communication. We invite the thinkers, the feelers, and the activists to share their personal insights on what is happening to our natural world and our effect upon it, both good and bad.'

'You don't know what you've got until it's gone', is a blind printed embossed artwork showing insects displayed in a glass case, which echoes those used to display specimens.The insects which are life size are almost invisible, visually and metaphorically! 

Having the directive of environmental artivism can allow your imagination to fly, I love that. I really enjoyed creating this piece, it was such an interesting challenge to find a way to best realise the seed of an idea I had in my head and also push myself on the technical front with a technique I'd only used in a smaller way and mostly in conjunction with relief printing before.The biggest challenge of all was to photograph it!

One of the most engaging aspects for me was to highlight the plight of creatures who at worst are considered pests to be erradicated and at best are mostly overlooked. Insects have seen a dramatic reduction in numbers over the last century. Although there was an explosion of interest in collecting specimens in the Victorian era, which tragically led to the extinction of several species, the greater cause of drop in numbers is loss of habitat due to human population growth, industrialisation and damaging agricultural practises in more recent decades. 

I hope this artwork will have prompted viewers to pause and think, maybe to appreciate the unique beauty and worth of all living creatures, maybe even to wonder how they themselves can have a more positive impact on everything in earth's biosphere, or at least a less negative one.

My other artwork exhibited at Wildlife Artist of the Year was 'Vanishing Fast' a blind print of a cheetah in the Facing Extinction category, which speaks for itself! Both pieces and my 'mini master' blind print of a tiger were sold. I'm very grateful to the kind buyers who are also supporting the important conservation work of DSWF.