Anna and Rosie's 'Arctic Drawings' funding campaign closed on 13th July 2011, having achieved their funding goal and successfully raised £1220 from 19 donations.
Rosemarie Shaw, architecture conservationalist, and I, Anna Ilsley, traveling artist, are leaving on an artistic expedition for the Arctic Circle in August until mid September. We will travel overland to Svalbard, an archipelago 200 miles north of the mainland.
I draw from life and paint from memory. Traveling overland to places that are beyond my imagination is integral to my practice. I draw manically, in an attempt to keep everything that I see and find. These drawings make journal-like sketchbooks that I can refer to when I return to the studio to paint. Rosemarie will be studying the architecture of Stave Churches across Norway and interviewing the people who use and maintain the places of worship. We shall travel via the cave paintings of Alta, situated in the far north of Norway where we will be able to see the Aurora Borealis if the weather in Svalbard permits it.
We plan to travel from Harwich via Denmark to Norway by ferry and continue north via ferries and trains – but from there we hit our funding issues.
The only option for us is to fly to Svalbard as cruises are thousands of pounds as are cargo voyages, and there is no passenger ferry. When we arrive on the Archipelago we will require a guide and expensive transport (huskies!) to enter the real wilderness and our funding again is lacking. We currently have enough money to get there, camp and walk around Longyearbyen, the main town.
We would like sponsorship to help us pay for the overland/sea trip and to take part in an expedition with a guide and necessary equipment while we are in Svalbard.
About Us
Anna Ilsley graduated from Fine Art Painting at Brighton University in 2006. She draws and paints from her studio in East London and has exhibited widely at galleries including Kettle’s Yard Cambridge. She is coming to the end of two years study at The Prince’s Drawing School and teaches drawing at the Museum Of Childhood. She has previously traveled overland from England to Bangladesh, documented in drawings, and returned from an artist’s residency in North India earlier this year. In November she will be exhibiting at the ICA as part of the group show New Contemporaries
Rosemarie Shaw has come to the attention of the IHBC through her submission to and presentation at the UK's major award for early career conservation specialists, the Gus Astley Student Award (see:http://www.ihbc.org.uk/gus_new/index.html).
"She produced a remarkable and impressive case-study analysis of a very current issue in designation in the UK, on locally-valued heritage, documenting and interpreting her close partnership with the local authority as well as local communities in the ultimately successful promotion of of formal designation of the Brixton Market in London. Her work was of such a high standard that she was asked to make a presentation at the special study day for students involved in the student awards, hosted by the IHBC in partnership with the Conservation Course Directors Forum, held at the Architectural Association in London. She carried out this task to the highest standards, while she has also submitted a paper on her work for publication in the Institute's journal, Context, which should be issued in the coming weeks."
Dr Sean O'Reilly, Director, The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (www.ihbc.org.uk)
