2024 will be one that will stay with me forever, it was a welcome light, full of family, friendship and travel. There was also some amazing collaborations, and firsts for me as an artist, as well as celebrating my 5th year of professional practice! Now of course, there was definitely some hiccups, fails, and lessons - and I may well break those down for you in another blog or video! But for now, let's celebrate the highs!
100 For the Ocean
I was honoured to be invited to be a contributing artist to the 2024 '100 For the Ocean' fundraiser, amongst some of the world's most recognised wildlife photographers. I donated prints of two art works, 'Sirens' as pictured above, and 'Ariel' my grey seal piece. Between us we raised $383,000 for ocean conservation projects across the globe.
Blue Shark Vodka
I was approached to design a limited edition bottle for US distillery 'Blue Shark Vodka'. A brand centred around sharks, with a strong ethos on giving back to the environment. Their bottles are already uniquely beautiful, featuring hand blown glass sharks inside. I was given complete creative freedom to design a label featuring blue sharks in my own signature style. My edition sold out really quickly and I am happy to have a bottle as a memento!
Komodo National Park
In April 2024 I was finally able to cross off a destination from my dive bucket list, the Komodo National Park in Flores, Indonesia. Not only is this a magical underwater destination, but I also had some incredible Komodo dragon sightings, a species I have always wanted to see and photograph. Having lived and worked in Indonesia whilst I was a scuba instructor, coming back to this country always feels a little bit like home. I was completely blown away by the health and abundance of life on the reef here. We also were so lucky with our manta ray sightings, arriving just after the full moon, there was plenty of current and megafauna action! This trip has left me feeling so inspired.
Save the Iberian Orca Campaign
In September, I was invited to visit the Strait of Gibraltar, to see my art on a boat! Visiting the WeWhale in Sotogrande and Barbate was amazing, as I finally got to see the cumulation of all the design work I have created for this organisation in place. The crews tees, client gifts, flags on the boat, merchandise, and of course the branding printed on to the boat itself! Knowing my orca illustration has been on the water all summer, swimming alongside these amazing animals, whilst documenting essential conservation research, fills me with so much joy. I also created a second art work of the male bull orca 'Pingu', which can be found on limited edition prints here.
Oceanic 31 
After two years of touring the UK, the Oceanic 31 exhibition had its final show in the Royal Geographical Society in London. Over 600 visitors attended the 'For the Love of Sharks' event to celebrate shark conservation. My basking shark has been one of 31 species contributed from 31 different artists from around the world to depict 31 different species of Oceanic shark and ray. The pieces were auctioned, with Steve Backshall kicking off the bidding live at the event. My piece sold for £1,350, with the total collection raising £10,481 for the charity.
We said 'I do'
2024 was the year of our wedding on the beautiful Kintyre Peninsula. It was everything I could have dreamed of and more. It has been so much fun spending time with my bridesmaids who are scattered across the country, and having our whole family join us on the Scottish coast.
South Africa
In September, we ventured back to South Africa for our honeymoon. After visiting this country in 2022 I became absolutely addicted to safari! We spent two weeks in the bush, in the Welgevonden region where we were blessed with so many rhino sightings, before heading back to Kruger which never disappoints. Seeing wild dog puppies, cheetah, and leopards were a real highlight, as well as our first black rhino sighting. It is impossible to not be inspired by this magical landscape, and I definitely see myself leaning into an African wildlife collection this year.
Rescue to Recycle
This year I was able to collaborate with one of my favourite brands - Waterhaul. Based in Cornwall, they are doing incredible things to turn the tide on marine debris. I have been an ambassador for them for a few years now, so it was great to be able to work together on this project. I created this illustration for the 'Rescue to Recycle' campaign, telling the story of the entrapped humpback where the materials to create these limited edition sunglasses came from. The whale was luckily freed, but these ropes serve as a sobering reminder of the plastic pollution that exists in our oceans. You can also save 15% on Waterhaul using my code: RACHEL15.
Argyll Art Map
In August I participated in my first Open Studios, the Argyll Art Map. We were able to use the gallery space in the Rockfield Centre in Oban for almost two weeks. I shared the space with 3 other local artists and it was so much fun meeting so many of you in person! I hope to be able to show you more of my work at events this year, so please do make sure you are signed up to my newsletter (you can find it on my website homepage) to be the first in the know.
