May, 2020 update:

Annya and the Turtles

This week included World Turtle Day, May 23rd, so I thought I would revisit (and update) my website blog about my amazing goddaughter, Annya.

The original painting, called “Annya’s Turtle”, I did for her as a graduation gift, in honour of all her dedication and hard work on behalf of the turtles. The image, shown at the top, above, is available on my website as a mounted gliclée print and a portion of the proceeds will go to help fund Annya’s efforts with the turtles.

This painting image is also available as a larger, A3 size giclée print, limited edition. (These would usually be hand-signed by me, but during the Coronavirus pandemic, they are available with a guarantee of authenticity, shipping directly to you from the printer, in UK.) Likewise a portion goes to help the turtles at Wildlife Sense.

The name of the organisation is the

Society for the Sea Turtles of Kefalonia, aka 'Wildlife Sense'

You can follow them on FB by searching the name Wildlife Sense Kefalonia, or go to https://www.wildlifesense.com/en/

If you are inspired to give something to help, directly, they have a donations page on their website with secure Paypal link or direct bank transfer information.

When the SAA asked me to teach an acrylic workshop last summer at their HQ in Newark, I was thrilled that they chose the turtle image as a basis for the theme. Amazingly, that was also the week of World Turtle Day and we had a great time painting this Green Turtle image,

Thank you for considering helping the turtles and our marine environment, and a huge thanks to Annya and other volunteers, giving their time and expertise to this important work.

June 2021 Update:

Watch this space - coming soon is an easier way to help the turtles in Kefalonia. I’m collaborating with Island2Island Art this summer, in conjunction with their exhibition, ‘Liminal Ties Unveiled’. I’ll be giving away a turtle print to the lucky winner of a draw. To enter, just donate to the turtles via the Just Giving page… offer open 1st August - 21 October, 2021.

Here’s why I am so inspired to help turtles in Kefalonia…

‘Annya’s Turtle’, ©Susan Clare Available here as a print (part proceeds to the SSTK)

I am beyond proud of my lovely Goddaughter, Annya, a recent graduate in Marine Biology, who has been spending her last few summers in Greece, helping with (and now running) a portion of the turtle monitoring programme in Kefalonia.

Here are a couple of photos of Annya, last summer, doing health checks and tagging turtles in the harbour. (She’s the one with the shades and braids (plaits).)

Annya at work, caring for a Green Sea Turtle.

Caring for turtles involves heavy physical work…

A Green Sea Turtle can grow to 5 ft in length and weigh over 300 kg (this one is smaller:)).

The original painting, called “Annya’s Turtle”, I did for her as a graduation gift, in honour of all her dedication and hard work on behalf of the turtles. The image, shown at the top, above, is available on this website as a mounted gliclée print and a portion of the proceeds will go to help fund Annya’s efforts.

The name of the organisation is the

Society for the Sea Turtles of Kefalonia (Wildlife Sense)

(see the updated information at the bottom of this article)

SAA’s Full Day Paint-along Workshop

When the SAA asked me to teach an acrylic workshop last summer at their HQ in Newark, I was thrilled that they chose the turtle image as a basis for the theme. The workshop was also live-streamed across the UK for all SAA members to watch and paint along if they chose.

I loved sharing sharing stories and info about the turtles with viewers while we created the beautiful acrylic painting below. If you would like to watch or paint along with me in this project, you can do so as an SAA member and they are promoting their Video-on-Demand programme right now with a 30 day FREE trial, here:

https://www.saa.co.uk/info/vod-free-trial/

Here’s a photo of the painting I did of the Green Sea Turtle, the paint along workshop in SAA’s Video on Demand programme.