Bio

Vicky: I have always been inspired by the ocean.

Growing up in inland Shropshire we were not nearby to the coast, but two or three times a year we would make the trip over to Cromer in East Anglia where my grandparents live. The coast there is ever changing – pebbles one day, sand the next, and constantly eroding sandstone cliffs crumbling to the power of the North Sea. As the tide pulled out in the summer I would be there, picking my way through the emerging tide pools in search of the infamous ‘Cromer Crab’ and fossilized sea urchins.

Later I attended university at Newport in South Wales. Here, being close to many famous beach breaks, I developed a passion for surfing and would surf at least once or twice a month, year round, either in Wales or Devon in England, or San Diego, California during the summers.

This passion continued during my post-university traveling years and my love for the ocean was further increased whilst living for a year in Western Australia. Here the tropical Indian Ocean waters made surfing, swimming and snorkeling all the more accessible and barely a day would go by when I was not in or near to the ocean. I was lucky enough to experience incredible ecosystems at Rottnest Island, Coral Bay and The Ningaloo Reef. I met with dolphins, sharks and rays and since then I could not imagine ever living far from the ocean again.

Moving to Vancouver, British Columbia in 2007, I was thrilled to be surrounded by such an abundance of nature. Beautiful rainforest covered mountains, a never ending choice of beaches and the ocean speckled with seemingly infinite islands to explore and kayak between.

The Pacific Northwest is undoubtedly a naturalists playground, however less than a year after living surrounded by all this life I was suddenly jolted into realizing a greater and more tragic truth that was lying all about us – just below the surface.

I have always been an avid watcher of nature documentaries, I love learning about animals from all over the world and the environments they live in. So when I rented a copy of Rob Stewert’s Sharkwater from the library, all I expected was a film about how amazing sharks are with some great footage and information about their lives. What I got was that and so much more. I discovered a completely new insight into shark behavior, how important they are to the ocean’s ecosystem and just how desperate the survival of their species has really become.

We always hear about the plight of elephants, tigers and pandas, but never about sharks, and it was shocking and horrifying to discover that all of this is caused by humans.

I was appalled by the disgraceful behavior of shark fin traders, the cruel and barbaric nature by which the shark fins are obtained, and all to make a soup that is merely a show of social status.

People don’t care about sharks. We are taught that shark are something to be feared and so worrying about them is low on people’s lists of environmental concerns.

I thought back to my time in Australia and the media frenzy that would erupt every time a shark was spotted at the local beach or a human had a run in with a shark.

Being a surfer I have always had a certain respect that while choosing to be in the ocean I am in the sharks territory. I would never hold a shark to blame for any injury that resulted in our meeting – particularly as I am fully aware of our near identical shape when lying on a surfboard to that of a sea lion or seal – one of many shark species’ favourite food. Indeed I’m amazed that more people each year are not bitten by sharks. It is a credit to the sharks perfect knowledge of balance in the ecosystem to show restraint when surrounded by so many floating, slow moving, seal-like objects.

Easy pickings, but sharks don’t want to eat us!

During the documentary I was also introduced to the conservation society Sea Shepherd founded by one of the original founders of Greenpeace – Captain Paul Watson.

This was an inspiring moment for me as I was used to the environmentalists image being protestors waving banners and taking photos – essentially ’bearing witness’ to horrendous events in order to bring them to the publics attention. While this is an important aspect in conservation I was very excited to learn about Sea Shepherd’s direct action approach – effectively stopping the unnecessary killing from taking place, and this is all done with such passion, knowledge and tenacity that I was immediately inspired to learn more and take action.

The more I learned about the oceans- the collapse of fisheries worldwide, multiple extinctions of sea birds, sea mammals and fish, coral bleaching, dead zones, oil spills, intensive fish farming (the list goes on), the more and more I became inspired.

The point was really driven home for me when I began reading about the collapse of the North Sea fisheries that had really begun taking effect over 100 years ago. As a child I had always believed that the North Sea got its particular shade of murky brown because of its rough, churning conditions, when in fact it should not be this way.

There had been huge oyster beds stretching all the way up the east coast of England – filter feeders constantly filtering plankton and detritus from the waters.

People had always locally fished these to feed there families, but as population increased, so did demand for oysters, and as technology improved and obtaining oysters became easier, their days were numbered.

This, combined with a huge, government subsidized fishing fleet of trawlers scraping the seabed for plaice, cod and skate, has decimated the coastal habitats leaving them all but uninhabitable.

Now the waters teem with plankton – living and dead – giving the water its brown appearance, starving other species of oxygen as their bodies decay – unused in an unbalanced ecosystem.

I even remember as a child being increasingly disappointed as the ’Cromer Crab’ became more and more elusive.

Rather than feel depressed about the desperate circumstances that nobody seems to be aware of, I felt empowered to take some action and bring this to people’s attention. I immediately decided I would never again eat seafood and encouraged my friends to do the same. I knew however that my words alone were not enough so I decided to use art as my tool.

I have always painted animals. I have been painting commissioned pet portraits for years so beginning to paint ocean life was an easy transition.

I have now been painting sea life for four years and have no intention of stopping. I find people are fascinated by the creatures I paint and eager to learn more about them. I am constantly amazed and made very happy to see young children’s reactions to my paintings and absolutely delighted to hear them give the proper name to each one.

I really feel that my art connects with people and I hope they take away some kind of message to make a difference in the world and change the way they think and act.

I hope people see the animals I portray as something amazing and understand the need to protect them.

Most of all I hope that I can continue to paint the ocean as a place of beauty and diversity far into the future and spread the message all across the world.