The South African artist competed against 1,654 entries from 850 artists across 55 countries and came out tops!
South Africa (01 September 2022) – South African artist Joni-Leigh Doran has just been announced as the winner of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s Wildlife Artist of the Year 2022.
Doran had entered the competition for the last three years but was still completely surprised when she heard she had won.
“I am pleased to announce that after entering the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s Wildlife Artist of the Year competition for three years running and making finalist every year, last night I won the coveted title of Wildlife Artist of the Year 2022 “in the category Facing Extinction with my 80cm x 60cm oil painting Anyone Out There?”.
This year’s competition attracted 1,654 entries from 850 artists across 55 countries.
In the words of David Shepherd himself, “I set up my Foundation with the sole purpose of giving something back to the animals that helped me achieve success as an artist. At a time when the world’s wildlife is under such devastating pressure from expanding human populations and the illegal trade, it seems fitting that we take a step back and reflect on the sheer beauty and diversity of our natural world and what could be lost if we do not truly appreciate the value of the world around us.”
What particularly inspired Doran this year was the tireless work of a small group of individuals who have been quietly working to raise awareness of one of the most underrated threats to one of the most widely publicised species – trophy hunting and the highly active, secretive trade in polar bear body parts.
“Climate change is not the only threat to polar bears. Despite campaigns to get the Norwegian Government to sign on to support an international ban on the commercial trade of polar bears, as well as attempts to get WWF to end their support of the trophy hunting and trade in polar bear body parts, little success has been made so far, and the world is turning a blind eye.”
This painting was sold within minutes of the award ceremony taking place, but the talented artist would still encourage anyone interested in supporting this and other endeavours to put an end to the over-exploitation of endangered wildlife to head over to https://davidshepherd.org and purchase another of the incredible shortlisted artworks or make a small donation, and to support the Ban Trophy Hunting campaign.
“Every bit helps. Every voice matters. And standing together, we can make a difference.”
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