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The painting 'Fragile World' (above) which secured
Pollyanna the title of SAA Professional Wildlife Artist of the
Year 2009 was displayed in the Midlands for the first time at
the exhibition. Read
More
Pollyanna in China
Painting of a Young Panda at BiFengxia
Visitors to the exhibition were able to see
field sketches made by Pollyanna, along with artefects she brought
home from China - including panda droppings!!
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Beyond
the Great Wall
The painting 'Race for Survival' (above) was
exhibited for the first time, and will be exclusively launched
as a limited edition print. Click here to buy
securely online
Beyond the Great Wall– Pollyanna
Pickering Summer Exhibition
Date : 19th June - 4th July 2010
Pollyanna was proud to open her private gallery to present
a major exhibition of over fifty original paintings inspired
by her journeys far beyond the Great Wall of China to paint
endangered wildlife.
The painting of a Red panda which secured Pollyanna her current
title of SAA Professional Wildlife Artist of the Year was exhibited
for the first time in her home county, having previously been
shown in London and New York.
Pollyanna braved temperatures as low as -29º, journeying
to the rarely visited extreme North East corner of China in
search of wild Amur Tigers on the Russian Borderlands. Fewer
than 20 of the tigers exist in the wild in China, and despite
spending days in the region, the tigers proved elusive. However
Pollyanna was able to sketch the tigers in a breeding and conservation
centre established to create a pool of Amur tigers with a pure
genetic bloodline, with the eventual aim of re-introducing the
cats into this remote mountainous region which they once roamed
in large numbers.
The most iconic animal to be found in China is of course the
Giant Panda – designated a ‘National Treasure’
by the Chinese Government. Fifteen years ago Pollyanna and her
daughter Anna-Louise were the first two western women ever to
travel to a remote panda reserve in the Tibetan Borderlands
of China. Here they worked in a small panda hospital, helping
to care for a six month old baby panda bear – and in the
surrounding mountains succeeded in seeing a wild Giant Panda.
Since then the Earthquake which struck the Sichuan Province
in 2008 has devastated the region, with many of the roads yet
to be rebuilt. Pollyanna followed in her original footsteps
to the starting point of her journey – the city of Chengdu
– where she visited The Giant Panda Breeding Research
Base sketching the residents, including the beautiful red pandas.
However her main destination was The BiFengxia Giant Panda Base.
Originally planned and built as a ‘training’ centre
to prepare captive bred pandas for release into the wild, since
the earthquake it has provided sanctuary for 53 pandas relocated
from the centre at Wolong. Pollyanna was fortunate enough to
be allowed to work closely with the pandas, even sitting quietly
inside their enclosures to sketch – an opportunity few
wildlife artists will have shared!
A limited edition book will be exclusively launched during
the event – a faithful reproduction of the sketchbook
and journal Pollyanna kept throughout her expedition. Also on
display throughout will be Pollyanna’s popular ranges
of cards, prints and giftware featuring her work, and visitors
also had the opportunity to win an original painting in a Grand
Prize Draw.
Ten percent of all sales were donated through Pollyanna’s
charitable foundation to fund the rescue of an Asiatic
Moonbear from the cruel Bile Bear Trade in partnership
with the Animals Asia Foundation.
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