Finding Inspiration

So, over the summer I have started volunteering at The Scottish Animal

Behaviour and Rescue Centre. I decided I wanted to help out on a more

hands-on level with animals; I have always supported animal charities and my

dogs are rehomed. I felt I could do more.

The guys at SABRC are amazing! Sharing information and making me feel one of

the team from the offset. The real stars of the show, however, are the animals.

My first day I was helping feed the horses (Merry, Ruby, George, Bella and

Patrick), the sheep (Peter, Paul, Clive and Charlie). Now, it isn’t all glamour: there

is a lot of poo picking and sad times. But none of that overshadows being a part

of the team here. It has been amazing.

As an artist I want to use my time at SABRC productively, so as well as helping

clean and feed I take lots of pictures to try and capture the characters of all the

animals. The sheep especially are really funny but it bloody hurts when they

headbutt you or stand on your toes! Trying to photograph them has been a

challenge and has left me with a lot of blurry pictures.

I want to start some paintings of Peter and Paul first I think, but to be honest all

of the animals are so beautiful it is hard to choose. For example, Molly (horse) has

the most beautiful eyelashes; Bella, the most beautiful markings. The Shetland

ponies are too cute for words, and don’t get me started on the rabbits and

guinea pigs!

Right, I will stop gushing now! I will post updates of the painting I do in future

blogs.

#artist