EXPLORERS AGAINST EXTINCTION

               THE BIG ELEPHANT AUCTION

                         

                                                           'Wisdom'

It's wonderful to have the opportunity to participate in the Big Elephant Auction, a new fundraiser organised by Explorers Against Extinction in 2026

'An African elephant is poached for its ivory at a rate of one every 26 minutes, on average'. 

A shocking statistic from 2016 which is at the heart of the Sketch for Survival concept.

Explorers Against Extinction are a UK based conservation charity who started Sketch for Survival in 2017, a unique way for professional artists and celebrities to help support wildlife conservation projects around the world, by donating artwork which is then auctioned to raise funds.                                                                        

The auction runs throughout April 2026 and finishes on April 26th at 19.00 BST 

Find details at The Big Elephant Auction

My artwork is an original woodcut and is entitled 'Wisdom'. Elephants are known to be wise, intellegent, empathic and loyal. Their wrinkled skins have a practical purpose and clearly illustrate their tough and long lives, but somehow also show their sensitive natures. I wanted to try and capture both aspects with this piece and love the way that woodcuts have the woodgrain adding to the texture and mood.

As an artist who is inspired by the natural world and wildlife, it's a real privilege to be able to help support wildlife conservation in this way.

Elephants on the move

The Intu National Tour is on the move.The Elephant Parade's latest herd of decorated elephants began their long journey at Intu Watford in July and will be on the road around the UK until July 2014. They are currently at the Intu Gateshead Metrocentre until 13th October.

It's many months since I started the design process for my elephant 'The Butterfly Effect' which began back in February this year.When I was asked to come up with a design on the theme of Joy, butterflies with their huge array of colours and the feeling of freedom they symbolise, seemed a perfect choice.
The Elephant Parade organisation feel it is important whilst raising funds, to also raise awareness of Asian elephant conservation. I hope that by using nature in my elephant designs to highlight the beauty that exists in the natural world, this encourages the public to think about how important it is to preserve the natural habitat of the elephant.

Design sketch for 'The butterfly effect'

When I decided to cover my elephant in an explosion of colourful butterflies I also wanted to put across the message that we can all do our bit for conservation no matter how small our contribution. I have always been a great believer in the power of the individual as part of bigger effort and after all 1000 people giving a £1 contribution is worth the same as one £1000 contribution!
The expression 'the butterfly effect' came to mind and although I can't claim to know anything about the chaos theory, this phrase has come to represent the idea that a small gesture ... like the tiny flap of a butterfly's wing on one side of the world, can have a knock on effect that is significantly bigger on the far side of the world as it gathers momentum.

I deliberately chose butterflies from all over the planet to represent the international importance of animal conservation. Choices we make in the west have a direct impact on the Asian economy which can lead to changes in the natural habitat of the Asian elephant.
I visited the butterfly farm at Studley Grange to take photographs for inspiration. In total there are 19 butterflies on my elephant, plus a butterfly orchid!

Orange Lacewing at Studley Grange

Marpesia from South America

It has been very rewarding to see people enjoying the elephant parade tour as it travels the UK and helps raise funds and awareness in the fight to save the endangered Asian elephant.

Elephant 'The Butterfly Effect'

It's great fun painting the coat of many colours for my elephant 'The Butterfly Effect' which I've nicknamed 'Kali' .......short for Kaleidoscope, which is the collective noun for a group of butterflies. Could there be a more beautiful or appropriate collective noun for any creature?

 

The Elephant has landed!

I'm thrilled to have been commissioned to paint another elephant for the Elephant Parade .This year it's for their first ever UK Tour in partnership with Intu and supported by Elephant Communications

The Elephant Parade hope to reach over half the UK's population with their 'People's Parade', taking their herd of 100 elephants showing designs created by artists, young artists, designers and celebrities to 13 locations. The tour will be launched on the 17th July at a secret location, then starting on 21st July for 4 weeks at IntuWatford, will travel the country including venues at Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and Nottingham.

The ParadeTour will for the first time include an educational programme aimed at schools, and will be running competitions to find the best young artists creating their elephant designs. Whilst raising awareness about the plight of endangered Asian elephants, thousands of designs produced by young people, will be
enjoyed digitally on big screens at the tour venues with winning designs being recreated on elephants that will join the herds locally.

My design called 'The Butterfly Effect' is inspired by the chaos theory that states that a small change in one place can result in a larger impact somewhere else.
I hope it highlights the importance of each individual making an effort to help the cause of elephant
conservation, however small ...  because like the gentle flutter of a wing, even tiny events can cause ripples that have major impact and can lead to significant change.
The selections of butterflies are native to both Europe and Asia, indicating that elephant conservation is an issue which transcends national boundaries. On a purely visual level the colourful palette and beautiful butterflies are joyous and appeal to the child in us all.

I'll be posting regular updates of my progress on twitter at   ArtistJVC

Elephant Parade Singapore Grand Auction

The hugely popular Elephant Parade Singapore is nearing it's end. All 162 elephants will be on view at the Botanical Gardens from 8th-11th January.
The Grand Auction will be spread across 3 sessions on Thursday 12th and Saturday 14th January

My elephant 'Love Song' is lot number 98 in the final auction at 4.30-7.30pm at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore.

If you would like to attend the Auction or bid on an elephant there is more information on the website at http://http://elephantparade.com/cities/singapore-2011/auction

Elephant Parade Singapore is raising money to save the endangered Asian Elephant and help preserve it's natural habitat. To date they have donated more than 4 million euros to this cause, mainly supporting the Elephant Family's project and others .

http://http://www.elephantfamily.org/

Elephant Parade Singapore launched today

The Elephant Parade Singapore went public today when 162 stunning elephants arrived on the streets of the city. They will be on display for 2 months before being auctioned by Sotheby's in January 2012 to raise money for Asian Elephant conservation projects.

All 162 elephants will be brought together for a spectacular goodbye event at the Singapore Botanical Gardens 8th-11th January. For the latest news updates go to:

http://www.facebook.com/elephantparadefan

I'm very honoured that my elephant 'Love Song' has been sponsored by one of the parade's charity patron's BLES. The Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary, is an inspirational project in Thailand, founded by a remarkable young British woman Katherine Conner who set up the sanctuary in 2005 in memory of a courageous baby elephant Boon Lott.

http://www.blesele.org/

'Love Song' will be on display at Singapore Zoo, which I'm really delighted about!

http://www.zoo.com.sg/

'Love Song' for the Singapore Elephant Parade, work in progress.

My latest elephant 'Love Song' had to share the studio with my gorilla 'Blackbeard Silverback' for a couple of weeks in the summer, who has now happily found a wonderful new home after the 'Wow Gorillas' Auction recently which raised a massive total of £427,000. A huge thank you to the lovely family who so generously donated £10,000 to buy him, which goes to support two charities, Gorilla conservation and 'Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal'.

The Singapore Elephant Parade goes out in public in a couple of weeks. Here are some photos of the work in progress. I chose to use mainly Asian birds in the design to highlight the need to conserve the Asian habitat to help save Asian Elephants, but couldn't resist including a few of the tropical African birds they also have at the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore...like the Lovebirds who inspired the name of my elephant!

http://elephantparade.com/cities/singapore-2011

Mosha the world at your feet says Hi to Copenhagen

The Elephant Parade Copenhagen hit the streets on June 1st.

100 stunning elephant designs can be seen all over the city until 25th August.

'Mosha the World at your feet', kindly sponsored by Copenhagen Zoo is situated at Nyhavn. She says Hi to Copenhagen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1NzxggnZsw

She will be auctioned on 8th September and miniature versions are for sale on the Elephant Parade website and in Gallery Stores in Copenhagen, to support the Elephant Family charity which works to save the endangered Asian Elephant.