Creating a nature reserve in a semi desert

Our earthship home is located in the heart of the campo 2km from our nearest village and half an hour from Mini Hollywood in the only semi desert in the whole of Europe.

The area used to grow esparto grass to service the rope industry, but when the industry swapped to nylon the esparto was left to go wild. Some fields and terraces have ancient olives and almonds, planted many years ago and sometimes still farmed. A lot is wonderfully wild with a surprising variety of flora and fauna, including a wide variety of bees.

This wild is now in danger from industrial farming.

Hectares and hectares have already been ploughed up to intensively grow olives and Californian almonds, as well as being smothered by plastic greenhouses to grow tomatoes to ship to northern Europe. None of these are sustainable in this area, they all use illegal wells to suck the underground acquifers dry. Local villages have to tanker water in during the summer as their wells have dried up, but still more is planted.

This is why we're trying to buy as much wild land as we can to protect it and all it is home to. All profits from my art sales go towards purchasing extra land (and paying off the mortgage we already have to buy land). We don't get government grants to do this and really appreciate your support of this little nature reserve - just under 20 hectares and counting...

I create art in honour of wild & wonderful nature

- raising awareness and funds to help with it's conservation

I come from a nature and craft loving mum, so it's no surprise that art, in some shape or form, has been my life with nature the inspiration in my fine art career. Trained at the Berkshire College of Art & Design I spent over 20 years in the Graphic Design industry culminating in a Creative Manager role at First Choice Holidays.

"But then I wanted out of the rat race"

And in 2002 realised a longterm dream of coming to live in Spain where I transferred my energy and skills to fine art. Since then it's been a journey to combine my 2 great loves - art and nature - with my growing desire to live gently on this planet.

Enter the small task of building our Earthship eco home!

Since moving into the earthship in 2014 my art has taken on a whole new life and personality. The majority of materials I use are upcycled or natural just like our home. This was of major importance to me, I really believe in

"being the change you wish to see in the world."

Using what I have, upcycling, eco friendly paints and processes are all things I've investigated and experimented with over the years to find a way to express myself without harming nature.
When I walk out into nature I almost have to wear blinkers as my heart becomes overloaded with the sheer awesomeness of it all, usually the small details grab me, the tiny flower almost trodden on, the curve of a leaf, recording these in my art brings me a sense of peace knowing that I'm capturing a beautiful moment in time to be cherished.

Conveying that same peace and beauty to the viewer in an eco friendly way is a main goal for me.