After an inspired walk at Worlingham Marshes, our new nature reserve in the Lower Waveney Valley and the Suffolk Broads, local wildlife artist Wendy Theobald created a beautiful pencil artwork.

Wendy's work captures the blustery, winter day she experienced during her first visit to the marshes, and includes wonderfully characterful wildlife illustrations.

The artwork has been kindly donated to us by Wendy and will feature in our 2024 collection of Christmas card designs. The original is also available to purchase, with all proceeds going towards our Worlingham Marshes fundraising appeal.

If you're interested in buying the artwork, please contact our Community Fundraising Manager, Michael: michael.strand@suffolkwildlifetrust.org

Michael spoke to Wendy about her artwork and how wildlife and wild landscapes inspire her practice as an local artist...

How has nature helped you in your work and life?

I feel very lucky to be a wildlife artist, sharing my passion for nature with others through my work. I love to observe nature in its many forms, from looking at insects in the garden to going on a badger watch. There is so much inspiration for an artist in the natural world, pattern, colour, forms, I’m always exploring new ways to interpret what I’ve seen. A lot of my work is inspired by my local area.  I walk most days and record my finds by photography and sketches.

It always feels a relief to be out in the countryside away from the everyday bustle of life. When times are stressful a walk in a wood or along a field edge can really give me thinking space and time to clear my head.

I also help out at our community woodland work parties when I can, along with caring for our 5 acre wood as a private nature reserve.

What inspired you about Worlingham Marshes when you visited?

Even though it was a cold winters day when we were visiting the Marsh we were lucky to see a short-eared owl, marsh harrier, Chinese water deer, and a kingfisher. It’s refreshing to go to a completely different area of Suffolk, and there’s nothing better than seeing an animal, bird or plant for the first time. I look forward to visiting the marshes at other times of the year.

I took photographs of the reeds lining the dykes, rough marshland edged with alder and birch trees and their seed heads. All these varying habitats provided me with lots of visual information that helped build up my interpretation of the area. I really enjoy the process of gathering ideas and then taking them back to my studio, where I can then piece them all together to form a sense of an area. 

Why is nature important to you?

Focusing on the natural world seems to be even more important to me as I get older. So much can be learnt from the natural world, yet so much of it can be lost in an instant when we don’t understand it. With all the alarm bells ringing in the natural world, it makes me want to help where I can.

I often hear people say that my work reminds them of places they know and wildlife they have seen. If my work can be a small reminder of how important nature is to us all then that has to be a good thing.