Pollyanna named as ‘Artist of the Decade’

We are delighted to announce that Pollyanna has been named as one of the Defining Artists of the Decade in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the field of Wildlife Art.

The honour has been bestowed by the New York based arts organisation ATIM, who have recognised a small number of artists working across all fields of contemporary art who they feel have made the greatest innovations in their work, as well as significantly raising the profile of their genre throughout the past ten years. The ATIM committee said “Pollyanna has helped define a decade of artwork. We will continue to celebrate her talents and honour her legacy.”

During the last decade Pollyanna arguably reached the peak of her career with original artwork exhibited at prestigious galleries throughout the UK as well as in the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia. She acted as Honorary Patron of the world’s leading Wildlife Art festival in Vancouver, and was the European delegate at the inaugural Wildlife Art and Conservation Festival in China. She won numerous awards for her sensitive and accurate depictions of wildlife, gaining inspiration from a decade of expeditions to study and paint endangered species in their natural habitats. Increasingly renowned as an Artist-traveller, since the start of the decade she had journeyed through remote areas of Borneo, Komodo, Vietnam, China, Thailand, the Arabian peninsula, Australia, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Rwanda, Argentina, Brazil, and into both the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Her published work was exported into eighty countries, and she was commissioned to produce exclusive work for numerous organisations including Harrods – the world’s most prestigious department store – and international charities including The Born Free Foundation, The World Society for the Protection of Animals, and numerous others. She painted stamps for several countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia, and her work even appeared on CD covers! As well as bringing wildlife art into the homes of viewers of the Create and Craft channel in the UK and USA, appearing live on over 200 shows, she also spoke about her love for her work and her passionate commitment to conservation in interviews on Australian television news, and Canadian Breakfast TV.
Among over 15 Honours and awards bestowed during this period were the most prestigious award in the field of Wildlife Art – the Simon Combes Award for Conservation through Artistic Excellence, The inaugural Wildscape Environmental Concern Award, and an incredible four Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Her daughter and business partner Anna-Louise commented “This is an honour that celebrates an entire decade of Pollyanna’s art – and ten years of hard work as well as huge amounts of fun and lasting memories. It is wonderful that Pollyanna’s dedication and commitment to her painting, as well as her incredible achievements have been recognised in this way. She created the most amazing body of artwork in the last decade, and this will be her lasting legacy”.

Pollyanna’s work will be featured in the Special Anniversary Artists of the Decade Issue of Art Tour International Magazine, to be published in January 2020. Anna-Louise has been invited to appear as a guest on a special episode of the ArtTour International TV Show to be recorded at the MNN studios in New York, which will celebrate the work of the selected artists and share their message with a worldwide audience.