Artist's Residency

In this ground-breaking project D. plantarius has become the UK's first spider to have its own artist in residence! The residency, by Yorkshire artist Sheila Tilmouth, aims to bring the story of this spectacular spider, and the wider messages it conveys about the amazing lives of spiders and the plight of wetland species, to a new audience.

In 2009 Arts Council England awarded Sheila a grant to work alongside the D. plantarius conservation project at Redgrave and Lopham Fen during the summer. As well as developing a wonderful series of images of the spiders lives, using a wide variety of media, Sheila ran print-making workshops for groups normally unable to enjoy and access wild places and creative oportunities.

In 2010 the BBC Wildlife Fund continued to fund the project, extending its reach to include workshops for local primary schools and 'A' Level art students at the Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Education Centre at Calton Marshes nature reserve near Lowestoft.  The residency has also been supported the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Buglife, The British Arachnological Society, and the Natural History Museum.

Click here to see and read about more of Sheila's amazing images of D. plantarius.

A collection of Sheila's 2009 images, Endearing features of the Fen Raft Spider, was exhibited at the Visitor Centre at Redgrave and Lopham Fen in 2009.  A new collection was exhibited at the Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Calton Marshes Education Centre in October 2010. Watch this space for future venues for the exhibition. Please contact us if you are interested in exhibiting this work.