Born in Cyprus, brought up in Fiji and now based in the Cotswolds; Sarah has always drawn inspiration from the animals, landscapes, and people she has encountered, both on her extensive travels abroad and back in the UK.  Her career as a professional artist began in 1995 when she swapped the global stock markets of the City’s virtual world for the primitive heat and dust of Africa and Asia; the start of her journeys, paintbrush in hand, across many continents, over the years.

Always drawn back to the sea, year after year, she returns to Cornwall to paint.  5 years in the making, and the fruits of her labour are now revealed in her Cornwall Collection.

She is now firmly established as a landscape, travel and wildlife artist with several awards to her name (including BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year). On winning the award the judges said “Sarah has cleverly captured the fluid movement of the cheetah in an organic and unique style.  It sings Africa”. The eight pictures she entered the following two years were all finalists, (however an artist can only win once).

With movement forming a special concern in her work, whether depicting boxing hares in the English countryside, galloping gazelles and zebra on the plains of Africa; or the slow rhythmic pattern of shepherds and their flocks in the Himalayan pastures; she has a remarkable talent for observation and a singular ability to render the movement, colour  and atmosphere of the scene before her.

Fearless in her use of unconventional mediums, such as the extensive variety of handmade papers, which she collects from all over the world; elephant dung paper, banana paper  (from Africa), papers from all over India, a particular favourite from the Himalayas,  papyrus (from Egypt), rice paper from (Vietnam); and so on. She gathers  charcoal from the camp fires, and different earths/sand and volcanic dust from Mt. Kilimanjaro,   sourced directly from the environment in which she is working.  

Her reputation rests on her ability to translate the evocative sights and sounds through her brush onto the appropriate surface which she feels most akin to the subject. Technically this is often implied by a series of gentle brush strokes coupled with layers of glaze which allow a shimmering translucence to pervade the paintings. This ethereal quality, at times contrasting with the underlying reality of such rural subjects, is characteristic of Sarah’s method; yet it is this painterly subtlety and deftness of touch that lends each picture its unique and sympathetic ambiance and allows us to glimpse, through her eyes, the mysteries of these sometimes remote worlds.

 “ Inspired by the landscapes, people and wildlife both in the UK and abroad,  I am constantly  exploring new places and ideas. My passion for nature, adventure and travel take me on endless fascinating journeys (often) to far away places, where I soak up and embrace the atmosphere, colour and culture of the scene before me.

From majestic mountain ranges to the delicate details of a bird’s feathers, I aim to capture the natural beauty of the world around us through my paintings, using a combination of colour, glazes, texture and light, working in oils,  mixed media and watercolours.  I hope I create paintings that transport the viewer to a world of natural wonder and beauty, encouraging them to appreciate the miracle of our planet and to dream…..”

Sarah Elder’s own words encapsulate her approach to her work; emotive, imaginative and personal, her paintings enjoy wide acclaim not only for the wildlife she so powerfully portrays, but also for the sometimes exotic but always intriguing locations to which she travels.  Her talent lies in her ability to transmit “the spirit of the place”, some extremely distant, and to our minds, culturally remote. The scenes she brings to life are at once enticingly unfamiliar yet vibrant in their rendition of landscapes and people so seemingly alien to our own.

Having exhibited for over 35 years her much sought-after paintings hang in royal, public and private collections throughout the world. Her paintings have been featured on TV several times, one example was a Sky TV documentary on her sporting paintings.  

She has undertaken many varied and fascinating commissions: a painting of Malachite  Kingfishers for Prince Harry and Meghan, (which they loved so much they renamed a wing in their house the Kingfisher Wing); a mural for the celebrated author Frederick Forsyth,  illustrations for several books, and the Christmas card for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust for several years; to name but a few.

Her paintings can be viewed at her studio by appointment. Do contact her by email at Sarah@sarahelderart.com or by telephone 07904 385 686.

2025  EXHIBITIONS  

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

10th-15th November
Chelsea Exhibition, Avenue Studios, Sydney Mews, Chelsea, London SW3 6HW
Please contact me for more details/invitation

14th November 
London Hilton, Park Lane, London for the charity DEBRA’s 20th Annual Fight Night

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

3rd – 8th November
Art for Youth, Mall Galleries, London

12th – 14th September 
Longwood Autumn Exhibition,  Lane End Farm House, Longwood, SO21 1JU
Friday 12th September – Private view 6pm, Open Saturday 13th September – 9am to 5pm

28th August – end September
Painswick Art Festival, Gloucestershire

24th- 25th May
Hilldrop Art Festival, Wiltshire

4th – 28th February
Natural World Exhibition, Chelsea, London

Permanent St Mawes Gallery, Cornwall 

 

PAST SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 – Stroud Autumn Exhibition, Gloucestershire
2023 – The Millennium Gallery, St Mawes, Cornwall
2022 – Stroud Winter Exhibition, Gloucestershire
2019 – The Gallery, Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London
2018 – Cheyne Gardens, Chelsea, London
2017 – Exhib. in aid of Bob Champion Cancer Charity, The Gallery, Glebe Place, Chelsea
2016 – The Gallery, Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London
2014 – The Daggett Gallery, Kensington, London W8
2014 –  Exhibition with the Aspinall Foundation, The Swann Gallery, Chelsea, London
2013 – Exhibition with the Aspinall Foundation, The Swann Gallery, Rye, Sussex
2012 – The Osborne Studio Gallery, Belgravia, London
2012 – The Southfields Gallery, London
2011 – Galerie du Cygne, St Tropez, South of France
2011 – The Gallery, Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London
2008 – The Air Gallery, Mayfair London
2008 –  The Gallery, Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London
2007 – Foss Fine Art, Battersea,  London
2005 – The Gallery , Cork Street, Mayfair,  London
2002 – The South African Embassy, London
2001 – The Osborne Studio Gallery, London
2000 – The Zimbabwean High Commission, London
1997 – The South African Embassy, London
1996 – The House of Commons, London

PAST GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024
Art for Youth, Mall Galleries, London
St Mawes Gallery, Cornwall

2023
Art for Youth, (In aid of Youth Clubs UK), Mall Galleries, London
St Mawes Gallery, Cornwall
Longwood Summer Exhibition, Hampshire

2022
Winter Exhibition, Sixteen Gallery, Cheltenham
Art for Youth, Mall Galleries, London
Memories Exhibition,  Shropshire
Sue Elton’s Summer  Exhibition, Longwood Hampshire
Aritsts for Painted Dogs & Other Wildlife Exhibition
Made in Chalford

2021
Open Studios, Stroud, Gloucestershire

2020
Open Studios, Stroud, Gloucestershire

2019
Art for Youth, Mall Galleries, London

2018
Art for Youth, Mall Galleries, London
Sue Elton’s Summer Exhibition, Longwood Hampshire

2017
Mall Galleries, London
Chelsea Arts Club, London
Longwood Summer Exhibition, Hampshire

2016
Charlie Waller Memorial Trust Exhibition, Berkshire
Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Society
Cricket Fine Art, Chelsea
Mall Galleries, London
Longwood Summer Exhibition, Hampshire

2015
Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Society
Cricket Fine Art, Chelsea
Mall Galleries, London
Longwood Summer Exhibition, Hampshire

2014
Chase, Royal College of Art
Cricket Fine Art, Chelsea
Exhibition in aid of the Aspinall Foundation, The Swann Gallery, London
Mall Galleries, London
New York Art Fair
Seattle Art Fair
Singapore Art Fair

2013
British Art Fair, Royal College of Art
Cricket Fine Art, London and Hampshire
The Swann Gallery, Rye, Woodstock
Mall Galleries, London
Travels Through Africa and Asia Exhibition, Hampshire

2012
British Art Fair, Royal College of Art
Cricket Fine Art, Chelsea and Hampshire
The Swann Gallery, Rye, South of France, Woodstock
Mall Galleries, London
New York Art Fair
Seattle Art Fair
Singapore Art Fair

2011
Cricket Fine Art, Chelsea and Hampshire
Mall Galleries, London
The Swann Gallery, Burford, Rye, South of France, Woodstock
The Wykeham Gallery, Stockbridge

2010
Art London, Chelsea
Cricket Fine Art, Chelsea and Hampshire
British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London: 20/21, The Watercolour Fair
The Swann Gallery, Rye and Woodstock
The Wykeham Gallery, Stockbridge
Wildlife Artist of the Year, Mall Galleries, London

2009
Cricket Fine Art, London and Hampshire
Foss Fine Art, London
Mall Galleries, London
Museo Stanze della Memoria , Barga, Italy
The Osborne Studio Gallery, London
The Wykeham Gallery, Stockbridge

2008
Chelsea Art Society, London
Foss Fine Art, London
Mall Galleries, London
Royal Academy, London
The Osborne Studio Gallery, London
The Wykeham Gallery, Hampshire

2007
Bandons Gallery, Hertfordshire
Chelsea Art Society, London
Foss Fine Art, London
Mall Galleries, London
Royal Academy, London
The Osborne Studio Gallery, London

1996 – 2006
Atelier D’Artista, Tuscany, Italy
Bandons Gallery, Hertfordshire
Chelsea Art Society, London
Collins and Hastie Gallery, London
Foss Fine Art, London and Suffolk
Kings Road Gallery, London
Kingsbridge Fine Art, London
Mall Galleries, London
Neville Fine Art, Hampshire
The Air Gallery, London
The Anderson Gallery, Gloucestershire
The Daily Telegraph Exhibition, London
The Lennox Gallery, London
The Osborne Studio Gallery, London
The Royal Academy, London
Trinity Fine Art, London
Young Masters Exhibition, London

BOOKS ILLUSTRATED
1995 “Where Warriors Met”, The Story of Lewa Downs, Kenya by Edward Paice
1996 Africa by Road by Bradt Guides
1997 Africa by Road, Guide to Tanzania and Guide to Uganda by Bradt Guides