Prue Sanchez

from Murrindindi Guide Summer 2021-2022

Arts & Entertainment

By Carol Hopkins

From her earliest years, Yea wildlife artist Prue Sanchez has had a passion for plants, animals and art. This passion is strikingly evident in her detailed, watercolour paintings of some of Australia’s iconic flora and fauna.

As a child, Prue enjoyed being outdoors with her friends, but once indoors, she happily turned her attention to drawing and painting, producing startlingly good portraits, still lifes and landscapes. Her combined passions for art and science were fostered by her father who regularly took her to the National Gallery of Victoria, the Melbourne Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Her maternal grandfather’s extensive collection of art books also provided inspiration and encouragement. Prue spent many hours poring over these books and, even today, has some of them in her own library. Throughout her primary school years, Prue earned praise for her art. However, as secondary school approached, she had to decide whether to focus on science or art, and science won. Although Prue was focussed on science subjects, such as biology, she found her artistic skills still came in handy when she needed to sketch one of the specimens she was studying – be it Above: Wildlife artist Prue Sanchez has a passion for plants, animals and art, which comes across in her detailed, watercolour paintings. Below: Dunnarts.

an amoeba, a plant, an insect, or a mammal. This skill continued to serve her well when she undertook a Bachelor of Science degree at Monash University, majoring in zoology and botany. After gaining her Diploma of Education, again from Monash University, Prue became a science teacher, first at Richmond Girls High School and then at Methodist Ladies College. But art was never far away. In her spare time, Prue continued to indulge her passion for drawing and painting, and when at school, she entertained her students by decorating the classroom blackboard with pictures. When Prue moved to Yea with her husband and family in 1989, she started teaching at a special school and discovered how useful art can be with challenging children. As she explains, “I did great things with the kids. There’s nothing better for pacifying a very naughty, damaged teenage girl than doing her portrait.” To further develop her artistic skills, Prue studied botanical art for a year with Jenny Phillips, a worldrenowned botanical artist in South Yarra, Melbourne. Jenny Phillips specialises in watercolours and taught Prue the special techniques that she now uses to capture the texture of fur and feathers in her wildlife paintings. Looking at the intricate detail in Prue’s birds and animals, it’s hard to believe this has all been achieved with watercolour paint. Prue’s work has received many commendations and prizes, including winning the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union bird illustrator (pencil) title in 1992 for a drawing of wood swallows. Although Prue is best known for her wildlife paintings, she also does portraits of children, people and pets and has even

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branched out into imaginative paintings of the aftermath of the Tasmanian bushfires.

Prue has exhibited her work in many galleries and art shows although, with the COVID lockdowns over the last two years, these opportunities have been severely limited. In keeping with her passion for plants, birds and animals, Prue is an avid supporter of many environmental organisations. She is deeply concerned about the impact of climate change and other forces such as pollution, land clearing, bushfires and urbanisation on the landscape. In fact, her concern for the plight of threatened species is the driving force behind her wildlife art.

“My main interest in painting is to record and transmit the exquisite nature of our animals and plants so that people realise what we are losing,” Prue says. While her primary focus is on Australian native flora and fauna, she also does intricate paintings of other threatened species such as the tiger. Over the years, Prue has built up an impressive body of work all of which is testimony to her ability to combine art and science and to shine a spotlight on the plight of plants, birds and animals in a changing world.

If you would like to view or purchase any of Prue Sanchez’s work you can go to www.bluethumb.com.au, www.wildlifeart.com or contact her by email at meryula@icloud.com Koala

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