Around 70km north of Hanoi, Vietnam a beautiful Asiatic moonbear stretches to his full height and climbs up onto a high platform to examine a fresh bunch of wild grasses, leaves and branches.
But for the first seven years of his life, this bear had spent his days in a dark cramped cargo container on an illegal bile farm in the south of the country undergoing the unending torture of regular bile extraction through an open wound in his abdomen. His rescue and relocation to the beautiful safe surroundings of the Animals Asia sanctuary was made possible through a Foundation established by one of Derbyshire’s best loved wildlife artists.
In countries across Asia, thousands of bears live a life of torture on bear farms, so that their bile can be extracted and used in traditional medicine to cure ailments. Bears are confined in cages which vary from agonisingly tiny “crush” cages to larger pens, all of which cause terrible physical and mental suffering.
When Pollyanna Pickering established her charitable Foundation in 2000, it was with the original fairly modest intention of raising funds to purchase equipment for small wildlife rescue centres and sanctuaries rehabilitating British wildlife. She never imagined that a decade later her funding would allow a moonbear to be released from a life of torture – or that to this day her Foundation would be helping to fund conservation projects from Bhutan to Belize.
This summer the 25th anniversary of the Foundation is being celebrated in an exhibition to be staged in her private gallery at Brookvale House Oaker Matlock Derbyshire DE4 2JJ (AA Signposted) from 21st – 29th June (Admission Free).
Visitors will be able to view over fifty original paintings – many of which will be on display to the public for the very first time – in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. The gallery will also be welcoming a very special guest – ‘Longarm’ – a life sized sculpture of a brave and inspirational orang utan created by the award winning wildlife sculptor Casey Nadine Banwell.
Pollyanna’s work as a wildlife artist always brought her into close contact with the animals she loves. Many years ago she began to visit wildlife sanctuaries in the UK to sketch and paint the creatures in their care – and became increasingly interested in the work they were carrying out. She became a licensed registered keeper to care for and rehabilitate injured and orphaned raptors, but soon discovered people would bring any wildlife in need of help to her door! This hands on work was sometimes challenging, but also very rewarding – and Pollyanna felt it was her way of giving something back to the birds and animals who made it possible for her to earn her living as a wildlife artist.
All the birds and animals she cared for were rehabilitated into the wild, unless too badly disabled to survive independently in which case they were given a home with her for the rest of their natural lives. Pollyanna funded the hospital – including the treatment, medical supplies, feeding and rehabilitation work entirely through a percentage of sales of her artwork.
Eventually after fifteen years of hands on care, she had to make the difficult decision to scale down the sanctuary. Her increasing success in the art world was taking her away from home for ever-longer periods of time, and she was unable to secure permanent expert help to care for the patients. However she was determined to find a way of carrying on her conservation and rescue work with wildlife, and the Pollyanna Pickering Foundation was established.
With Pollyanna’s daughter Anna-Louise as president, The Foundation continues in its original aim to help British wildlife in need. However Pollyanna always believed that in order for her to fully capture the realism of her subjects it was vital to study and sketch them in their natural habitats, and so she has travelled into some of the most remote and inhospitable parts of the world, to study and paint endangered species in their increasingly fragile habitats. She witnessed first hand the huge impact we have had on the natural world, primarily through destruction of habitat and poaching of endangered species. The Foundation’s scope widened to raise funds for the protection and rescue of wildlife worldwide, and has helped to protect Rhinos in Africa, Wolves in Ethiopia, orphaned polar bears in the arctic, and build a tiger orphanage in Nepal. Major campaigns have helped to fund construction of enclosures at Born Free’s big cat sanctuaries in South Africa and Ethiopia and purchased equipment for Project Tiger’s anti-poaching rangers working in India. Through exclusive adoption programmes, the Foundation supports a wild cheetah relocation programme in South Africa, the care of Giant Pandas in China, and the rehabilitation of orphaned wild dogs in Namibia.
Most importantly the Foundation never forgets the individual animal – Pollyanna’s work has helped fund the rescue of lions from a Romanian Zoo and their subsequent transfer to the Born Free sanctuary in South Africa – and of course the Foundation has committed to funding the care of Polly Bear in the Animals Asia sanctuary for the rest of his natural life.
“It is an honour to continue Pollyanna’s legacy through the Foundation” Anna-Louise told us “Through the funds we raise at the exhibition, alongside our annual prize draws and the talks I give to societies all around the UK we are able to continue our work world-wide – in the past few years we have been helping to protect Jaguars in Brazil, Snow Leopards in the Himalayas and Lions in Kenya.”
Two new limited edition prints will be launched at the anniversary exhibition. Also on display throughout will be Pollyanna’s extensive range of books, greetings cards, fine art and limited edition prints, and a wide variety of gift ware featuring her work, including brand new card crafting kits as launched live on television! A sneak preview of next year’s charity cards will also be available. Pollyanna’s daughter Anna-Louise will be in the gallery throughout the exhibition and will be happy to chat to visitors about the artwork, and the inspiration found on their expeditions.
Visitors to the gallery will have the opportunity to purchase prize draw tickets to win a unique hand embellished picture. Tea and Coffee will be available throughout, and visitors are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy in Pollyanna’s unique gardens – which include life size sculptures of gorillas, giraffes and elephants!
Full details of the exhibition can be found at www.pollyannapickering.co.uk
