I have been lucky enough to go caving with some lovely people and have visited many amazing caves around the world. Whilst caves are often a challenging place for making art, taking some time to sit quietly and sketch rewards by revealing grandeur and exquisite detail, in equal measure.
A cave pearl is a small, usually spherical, speleothem found in limestone caves. The pearls are formed by a precipitation of calcium salts that form concentric layers around a nucleus. These examples are starting to erode, exposing their layers
These curtains and straws are speleothems found in “Swamp Creek”, in a cave called Ogof Fynnon Ddu in South Wales.
These impressive stalagmites and flowstones are in a beautiful cave called Coventosa in Matienzo in Northern Spain. I visited this cave with the International Society of Spelaeological Artists.
This little picture is inspired by a trip to Rana Hole in the Assynt area of Scotland. At this time, this cave was being dug out by cavers in the hope of discovering more passage. In 2008 after 12 years of excavation, Rana Hole was connected into the Claonaite system.
Caver, Lesser Horseshoe Bat and a Herald Moth
This little painting was one of my first cave paintings and is inspired by a cave called Bridge Cave in South Wales, which has a rock balanced in rift.