On Thursday the 8th November the original Owen Wiliams Curlew painting was auctioned off to raise money for the Curlew Country appeal. The painting made a fantastic £625 which will be put towards future curlew recovery work conducted by the project. The painting was secured by a local Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) member with a keen interest in curlew, and who manages part of his land for the benefit of wildfowl and waders.
Owen Williams is a professional sporting and wildlife artist, with a particular passion for woodcock that has led to him training to catch and ring these elusive birds. The self-taught artist is inspired by his time growing up in the Countryside, drawing on a childhood spent hunting, fishing and exploring a landscape full of a huge variety of flora and fauna. As well as creating beautiful watercolour studies and scenes, Owen also works with bronze to create stunning Woodcock sculptures. The sale of these bronzes helps to fund the purchase of geo-locator tags which are fitted to Woodcock to track their movements and gather valuable data.
Owen sent the response below following the paintings sale;
“I am delighted to have made a modest contribution to your valiant efforts to save our curlew. This is because the call of the curlew runs like golden thread through the weave of happy memories of my time growing up on a hill farm in West Wales. Several years back that thread broke and I am saddened by its absence, so anything I can do to help it being rewoven into our rural backdrop is worthwhile.”
Prints of the Curlew painting are available from the GWCT, with £15 from each sale going towards the Curlew Country project. Click here to find out more.