Sandi Lear of Australia has been involved with gaining awareness and helping to raise funds for conservation. "We have an obligation to the places and animals with which we share this planet, to redress some of our poorer choices, and plan to make better ones...art through conservation is very dear to my heart and allows me to pursue my own ethical obligations."

Included in her efforts was the approaching of Jim and Jamie Dutcher of Living with Wolves for permission to use some of their amazing photography to compose a painting, and then running a successful online auction. The piece is entitled: “First Light” and was acquired by a lovely lady in the Yukon who then donated more money to the organisation. Shortly after, Sandi was contacted by Jessica Warwick for Project Orangutan Exhibition in Sydney, a fundraiser for International Animal Rescue Inc, and painted and donated two paintings for the exhibition & subsequent sale.

Sandi continues to work towards and donate work to the cause of raising awareness and funds to support global conservationist activities through her art, supporting charities for the preservation of species and habitats such as the Great Barrier Reef, re-population of wolves in the USA and Europe, preserving Sugar Glider and other marsupial habitats in Australia, to name a few.

Fortunate to have two studios and therefore two homes, one is 2.5 acres of rainforest and orchard on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland. There Sandi and her fiancé have a platypus habitat, also many wild birds, frogs, snakes and marsupials make their home. More importantly, Sandi is an apiarist, and dedicated to doing everything possible to help bees learn to deal with Varroa (new to Australia) mite and protect from pesticides and pollution; companion planting to provide nectar and pollen for birds, bees and butterflies, and grow household crops. 

In addition, Sandi is guest speaker at the local TREAT - Trees for the Evelyn & Atherton Tablelands, a forestry initiaitive working with local people who prepare and plant native seedlings for reforestation and rehabitat projects. An ex-paramedic Sandi provides advice on first aid, lectures on ticks, snakes and other issues such as Leptospirosis; as well as being involved in the preparation and planning of reestablishment of animal corridors and indigenous plant species. 

Having travelled and lived all over the world with a myriad of careers/jobs/living and sailing the world's oceans..."I have a love of the outdoors and all living things, wild or not-so-wild. Due to a medical condition I cannot travel to a lot of the places for resource and so work with a few world class photographers to provide inspiration for anatomy and behaviour. Always with music playing in the background, I am largely studio based. The animals and wild places I paint inspire me by drawing parallels with the human condition, often the higher values and ideals to which we would love to aspire."

Sandi works exclusively in watercolour. Winning emerging artist and open awards, her work is represented internationally and features in private collections in Australia, the orient, the USA and Europe.