A. E. London

Anne E. London (born December 31, 1957, in southern California) is an American artist and conservationist. Her art was greatly affected by a trip to a refuge for retired media animals, after which she started to focus on doing dramatic pieces that provide emotive portraits of wild animals, especially endangered species. She lives in Mandeville, Louisiana and works primarily with charcoal, watercolor, and engravings. London has established her reputation through producing art for non-profit wildlife preservation organizations and through showing and selling her work at art fairs across the United States.
She travels to Africa annually to continue her conservation work and draw her subjects.
https://www.aelondonstudio.com/
Career history
London studied graphic arts under Saul Bernstein at Southern California State University and worked professionally in movie studio graphics design, doing storyboarding and logo design for the actress Tippi Hedren, until a visit to Hedren's Shambhala Preserve for retired media animals inspired her to leave the commercial sector. She later became a founding member of the conservation and infrastructure development group Build on Hope in Mozambique, and continues to serve on the Board. Her art career has spanned almost four decades and is displayed in corporate and private collections all over the world.
Visiting Africa regularly, she often draws her subjects live, and has been known to use coffee to draw with if she runs out of paint in the bush. She initially focused on engraving, but due to carpel tunnel syndrome she switched over to charcoal and water media.
She is well known for the spirit and emotion she portrays in her animal subjects. London now focuses on water color and charcoal over Venetian plaster on canvas.
A profile of London and her work by Heather Campe called "Letting Loose" was published in the Mar/Apr 2007 edition of Wildlife Art Magazine. She was awarded the 2005 Award of Excellence for Kitabu.
London was the featured artist on ArtFairCalendar.com in August, 2007. In 2008 London's work was included in a series of conservation documentary videos produced by Captured Life Productions, filmed in South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and Cape Town.
London sells her artwork through Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She also sells online and by exhibiting at fine art shows primarily in the United States, but also through agents in Italy, South Africa and Central America.
Each year since 2011, London and her husband Jim Hart, Director of Oceanographic Expeditions LLC., guide a group of friends and collectors across Africa, introducing them to animal subjects and involving them in conservation projects across Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In 2012 they founded Arts For Animals inc. This non-profit organization pairs artists with African school children to teach them artistic skills and wildlife conservation stewardship. Arts For Animals provides art materials, lesson plans, inspirational art and computers to teachers and wildlife conservation organizations working in Botswana, Zambia, Zimabawe and South Africa. In 2013, Arts for Animals began their "Wildlife Protector" program which organizes local children in the fight to eliminate wildlife poaching. Children swear an oath to protect wildlife, sign a contract recognizing their understanding of the importance of their wildlife and their commitment to protecting their animals. They are awarded a blue wristband signifying their promise. By 2019 over 8000 children had made the pledge to protect their wildlife.
In 2015, London and Hart designed and built a regional Wildlife Art center in Zimbabwe near Victoria Falls. The Wildlife Center teaches Wildlife art and the importance of local wildlife to visiting students from the region. In 2016, Arts for Animals became partners with Painted Dog Conservation to provide Wildlife art lessons, materials and posters to the children and adults they teach each year at a "Bush Camp" in Zimbabwe. In 2019, London's Arts for Animals program partnered with the Timbavati Foundation in South Africa to provide Wildlife Art Conservation materials, lesson plans and posters to their curriculum. London continues to expand Arts for Animals to other areas of the planet and to exhibit her work worldwide.
In 2017, London's artwork was selected as the international Logo for Sketch for Survival 2018, which raised over $200,000 for Wildlife Conservation projects in Africa and India. The annual charity combines pictures from wildlife artists with pictures donated by celebrities in an international auction. It is hosted by the group Explorers against Extinction. They list Anne London as one of the professional and award-winning artists whose work comprises the core of the collection each year, the Sketch For Survival Invitational.
Awards and recognition
In 2011 and 2012, London won "Best in Show" or other awards at thirteen national exhibitions. In 2014, she was cited as "Best in Show" at three exhibitions in North America. In 2017, A.E. London set a new record at the prestigious Southeastern Wildlife Exposition for the highest price ever paid for their "Quickdraw" competition'. Also in 2017, London appeared on African National Television presenting 2 large Lion pieces of her artwork to Botswanan President,Ian Kama, in honor of his commitment to wildlife preservation. One piece was slated to be exhibited in the Botswana Presidential residence, and the other in Ian Kama's private residence.
Awards
* 2005 Award of Excellence, Society of Animal Artists
* 2014 nominated for Simon Combes Conservation Award through The Artists For Conservation Foundation
* 2020 selected to receive the Simon Combes Conservation Award
Exhibits and publications
* 2013 "Old Soul" featured in the Artists for Conservation "International Exhibit of Nature in Art"
* 2015 Selected for the annual "Artists for Conservation" 2015 calendar.
* 2016 "By Any Other Name" chosen for the Society of Animal Artists' "Art and the Animal" Exhibition and national tour
* 2017 "I've Got Your Back" chosen for the Artists For Conservation "International Exhibit of Nature in Art"
* 2018 "Lion of Tanzania" featured in the Society of Animal Artists "Art and The Animal" Exhibition and tour

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