Journal

This month I was honoured to be asked to be on the judging panel for the World Oceans Day Art Competition with the Pearl Protectors. Art is a great medium for sharing both a love of the ocean and to highlight the conservation threats facing it. It was so inspiring seeing the work from entrants age 4 and upwards and filled me with hope that there are so many young artivists in the making. It was a difficult job picking out a shortlist from the 140 artists who submitted work.   © Artwork by the Pearl Protectors 2022 Who are the Pearl...

For me there is no creature more fascinating than the humpback whale, their impressive size, gentle nature and mysterious lives exploring the open ocean make me think these animals all have a life time of stories to tell. There is something about the eyes of a whale that reveal a glimpse in to that creatures soul. Staring deep in to those magical eyes you get the sense you are being seen by a creature full of wisdom, compassion and empathy on par with our own. Now these are purely anthropogenic projections, but there are plenty of tales about these ocean giants...

We often imagine the beauty of the ocean in coral reefs in the bright sunlight where life flourishes, and I'm not disputing that. But on the seemingly barren sand flats, hidden in crevices and in water so deep that no light touches, there are amazing creatures to be found. Creatures that have to be seen to be believed, and in this piece I wanted to showcase just that. There is beauty to be found in the unique - and the ocean is full of wonderfully diverse life.  Frogfish in the Lembeh Straits, Rachel Brooks 2018 This piece started back in...

I am so STOKED to share this news with you! Earlier in the month I was approached by the RSPB to create them a design for their COP26 campaign. As a conservationist collaborating with such a well know conservation organisation for such an important event is a dream!  Whilst the talks at COP26 are ongoing they wanted a design which celebrated our biodiversity, to remind us all what we have at risk. I couldn't think of a better way than sharing our wonderful Scottish seas. The life here in the Sea of the Hebrides is like nowhere else I've been,...

"Ocean Ink" is an intricate pen and ink work celebrating one of my favourite critters, the Octopus.  Living in the Lembeh Strait I have been fortunate to meet some of the rarest and most impressive Octopus species, such as the wunderpus, mimic, highly toxic blue ring and the elusive hairy octopus. I have been captivated by their quirky characters and incredible skin.  "Cephalopods are an island of mental complexity in the sea of invertebrate animals... If we can make contact with with cephalopods as sentient beings, it is not because of a shared history, not because of kinship, but because evolution built minds...