Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma.
For the past quarter of a century, our brilliant wardens and volunteers have worked tirelessly to make this island nature reserve a wildlife haven. Today, RSPB Ramsey Island boasts an impressive array of wildlife, and welcomes thousands of visitors every year to enjoy all that it’s got to offer.
Celebrating the beauty of the island through art
To mark this important milestone, the island’s wardens, Greg and Lisa Morgan invited David Cowdry, an artist based in Llandeilo, to spend time on RSPB Ramsey Island to paint some of the wildlife and scenery found there.
Ramsey Island has plenty of spectacular scenery to inspire any artist. You can find breathtaking beauty, calm or tempestuous seas and colonies of screaming sea birds nesting on its towering cliffs. The colour and atmosphere is different every day, thanks to the constantly changing weather rolling in from the sea. It’s the prefect recipe for an artist like David who specialises in landscape paintings.
David spent three days on the island in the spring of 2018. He took photos, sketched the scenery and took in the feel of this small but magical piece of land. After returning to the mainland, he set off to paint some of the amazing wildlife spectacles he had seen. From majestic red deer, screeching Manx shearwaters, flocks of choughs and acrobatic peregrine falcons; the paintings portray the rich and varied wildlife found on the island.
David used acrylic paint for his paintings, and the colours and shading work well to portray the different type of lights RSPB Ramsey Isand experience, like dense sea mist to sunsets that offer a burst of light.
A boost to the vital work on RSPB Ramsey Island
The paintings are a fantastic way to show people what RSPB Ramsey Island has to offer. They will also help in another way. David will kindly donate 30% from the sale of each painting to RSPB Ramsey Island. Conserving and enhancing the island’s wildlife, and keeping everything in order as the visitors arrive, is expensive work. This generous contribution will go a long way in making sure that the vital work carries on in the future.
One of the most striking paintings (an aerial view of Ramsey Island, banner picture) will also be donated to RSPB Cymru. It shows the island surrounded by the turquoise sea of the Ramsey Sound, and it will be showcased at St Davids Kitchen, St Davids.
The paintings are currently on display in a public exhibition in St Davids until 26 May, hosted by our partners St Davids Kitchen. We work with them on several projects, like the Farm to Fork and the Ramsey Island Gin ventures. It’s great to get to team up again, and it’s brilliant to see the paintings showcased only a few miles from the island.
The exhibition takes place at Cathedral Villas, and will run until May 26. Follow the link to find out more.
I visited Ramsey for a few hours about 20 years ago. It was a spectacular day; sunny and hot, deep blue sky and sea, clear bright light, it was all breath taking and I am still surprised how clearly I remember it whenever I do remember it.