Biography
Pollyanna Pickering is widely recognized as Europe's foremost
wildlife artist, and is the most published fine artist working
in Britain today.
She is an honorary patron of
The Wildlife Art Society International, and
a signature member of the Artists for Conservation Foundation
and the Society of Feline Artists. She
is also a full juried member of the New York based Society
of Animal Artists.
A familiar face on TV, the most recent documentary
about her work Made in England was brodcast
on BBC1 last year.
Pollyanna was born in Yorkshire,
and is pictured left making an early start on her career! She
began her real art training at Rotherham Art School,
where, in her first year she won the award for most
promising student - and met her future husband, Ken Pickering,
an industrial designer. She went on to study for a further three
years at the London Central School of Art, graduating
with distinction.
Pollyanna's original work has been exhibited
in top galleries internationally, including the Royal
Academy. Her paintings hang in private and corporate
collections world-wide from Siberia to Australia, and celebrity
collectors of her work include John Hurt and
David Bowie, while Sheik Mohammed
has a specially commissioned series of paintings of his ascot
winners. Her work has been presented to Princess Anne,
and she has even been commissioned to paint Her Majesty
the Queens' favourite racing pigeon!
Pollyanna's work will be familiar to most people
through her extensive range of published work. Her limited edition
and fine art prints, books, ranges of greeting and Christmas
cards and gift ware are sold throughout the UK and exported
into over eighty countries world-wide.
For fifteen years Pollyanna ran a registered
hospital for birds of prey from her home. Caring mainly for
injured and orphaned raptors, she also rehabilitated foxes,
hedgehogs, squirrels and other mammals, all of which feature
in her work. This close contact with the creatures in her care
is reflected in the realism and vitality of her work.
Pollyanna's determination to paint only animals
which she has observed in their natural habitats has lead her
into a remarkable and unique series of journeys into some of
the most inhospitable areas of the globe. Click for further
information.Click here for further
information.
The Pollyanna Pickering
Foundation raises funds for world-wide conservation,
animal welfare and disaster relief. Pollyanna continues in her
support of other charities. She acts as patron of several organisations
including The Badger Trust, Raptor Rescue, Naturewatch,
the Gamelea Countryside Training Trust, Cats in Need and
FABLE who raise funds for epilepsy sufferers.
Pollyanna is a trustee of the Irish African/Asian Conservation
Trust, and also holds the post of International Vice
President of Bill Jordan's Wildlife Defence Fund.
Within her local community she acted as Honorary president of
the North Derbyshire RSPCA for many years,
and is Honorary President of the Chesterfield Art Society.
She is a member of the Court of the University of Derby.
Pollyanna continues to receive awards and accolades
for her paintings, including the Silver Palette Trophy
and the Millennium Trophy bestowed by the Wildlife
Art Society International who have also awarded her
two Gold Medals. In 2004 she was awarded a
coveted first prize in the Wildlife Artist of the Year
Awards, and in 2007 won the first National Wildscape
Masterclass Challenge. In 2006 the Artists
for Conservation Foundation honoured her with their
prestigeous Conservation Artist Award.
However in recent years she has also been recognised
for her remarkable accomplishments in both business and conservation.
She was a finalist in the 2000 Business Woman of the
Year Awards, and has been awarded the Freedom
of Bolsover and District in recognition of her charitable
work in the area. In 2003 her name appeared in a list of the
ten Greatest East Midlanders as voted for by
the public, the same year in which she received a commendation
for her work in Arts and Media at the European Women
of Achievment Awards. In 2004 she was the winner of
the Hera award at at the prestigious NatWest
everywoman Awards which celebrate the achievements
of women in business. In 2006 she was awarded the Department
of Trade and Investment's Women in Business Achievement Award.
In 2007 she was one of the first recipients of an Excellence
in the Community award from Derbyshire County Council,
in recognition of her ‘outstanding personal achievement’
which has helped to put Derbyshire on the map. In 2009 she was
one of the three shortlisted finalists for the Women
in Public Life Awards.
In 2005 The International Fund for Animal
Welfare named her Animal Conservation Fund-raiser
of the Year, honouring her with an award at a special
presentation at the House of Lords. In 2008
she recieved an honorary degree from the University
of Derby in recognition of her acheivements.
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