International Falconry festival 2009

We'd like to say a big thank-you to everyone who helped to make our weekend at the falconry festival a great success. It's important to publicly thank some people, because without them we couldn't have done it. Andy's parents for looking after Joe and Maisie, Carl from gamehawker for making our display panels,and helping to put them up. Jamie, Chris and Kerry for helping on the stand.And of course everyone who spent their hard earned cash! It was great to see familiar faces and catch up with old friends, and Donna enjoyed the opportunity to put faces to the names she's been in contact with via email.

Thank-you everyone who took part in our draw at the falconry festival to win a limited edition paper giclee.

The lucky winner is......
Lauren Milhall from weston super mare

"The flying of falcons" by Ed Pitcher

“The flying of falcons “ by Ed Pitcher, a much awaited publication is soon to be released. It’s not a “how to “book, it instead describes a philosophy of flying falcons that mirrors their natural development. It challenges some of the traditional preconceived ideas about how to fly falcons, and will prove an interesting read.

A few years ago on a visit to the U.S I was staying on a friend’s ranch which was being managed by fellow falconer, Daryl Peterson. Daryl had casually mentioned that Ed Pitcher lived nearby. Ed Pitchers name in the world of Falconry has become synonymous with the flying of falcons to the extreme limits of visibility and altitude. So it is with fond recollection that I remember back to that one afternoon visit. We sat and chatted about peregrines and in particular the Red shaheen that Ed had flown and I listened awestruck as he recounted experiences that he had with this and many of the other falcons he has flown. When asked by Ricardo Velarde to contribute to this new volume written by Ed I did not hesitate. Ed’s unique viewpoint and freethinking mental approach towards the training of falcons has become for me a breath of fresh air. It has been a great honour to be involved with both Ricardo and Ed on this book and I hope you take from it as much inspiration as I and many others have.

I am pleased to have contributed about 14 paintings, plus sketches, to be used as illustrations for the book. One of them “My girl” is a painting of one of my own peregrines, Missy.(pictured above) You may have seen the original of it displayed at the falconry fair a couple of years ago. We are now putting this image into print in time to be launched at the falconry festival in July. When the original was displayed it attracted many favourable comments, and so hopefully this will prove to be a popular print.

You can learn more about Ed pitchers new book "the flying of falcons" by clicking here

Cheetah conservation fund

When we launched the Andrew Ellis premier edition giclee “The chase is on “, we decided it was an ideal opportunity to support the work of The cheetah conservation fund. Each time one of the giclees sells we make a donation of 15% of the profit to the CCF. When 2 of the run of 25 sold last month we were really happy to be able to make a donation which we know will go to help the very important work that the CCF carry out.

The CCF have a vision “to see a world in which cheetah’s live and flourish in co-existence with people and the environment” and to achieve this are involved in science and research programmes, and they’ve managed to reduce the number of cheetahs killed on commercial farms through education. CCF has close links and assists in training and sharing programme successes with other countries where cheetah live, including Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Iran and Algeria. CCF's international programme includes distributing CCF materials, lending resources and support, and providing training through Africa and the rest of the world.

The plight of cheetahs symbolizes the problems that many predators face throughout the world.The world's fastest land animal, the sleek and long-legged cheetah, is losing its race for survival. Once a common animal found on five continents, the cheetah is now an Endangered Species. Loss of habitat, conflict with humans, as well as its own loss of genetic variation, are the main threats facing the cheetah today. The cheetah needs large expanses of land to survive, but with changes in land use and habitat pressures, such as bush encroachment, this area is becoming smaller and smaller. Unfortunately, captive breeding efforts have not proven meaningful to the cheetah's hopes of survival.Cheetahs have existed on earth for at least three-and-a-half to four million years - long before any of the other big cats that are alive today. About 20,000 years ago, cheetahs were common throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America

The number of cheetahs has decreased from 100,000 at end of the 19th century to approximately 10,000 today.

So please consider helping this worthy cause.

Remember 15% of the profits from the sale of each copy of “The chase is on” by Andrew Ellis go direct to The Cheetah Conservation Fund.

To find out more about the work of the Cheetah conservation Fund visit www.cheetah.org

New Andrew Ellis greetings cards

We are pleased to announce that our new range of greetings cards featuring Andrew Ellis paintings are now available online. The direct link to the correct page of our website is here. You can also click on images in the sidebar of this blog to take you to the relevant pages to view and buy Andrew Ellis cards, prints and calendars.

Within the range of 8 cards, we've chosen a mixture of animals and birds, they are available to buy singularly and as packs. As with our prints and the new calendar for 2010 , we are happy to send the cards worldwide.

Here's 3 of the images which are available.

"Broken silence"- timber wolves

"Get 'em up"- pointer and grouse

"Springbok clash"- springbok

Over the coming months Andrew will be explaining the story behind each of the paintings used in his new range of cards.

Falconry Festival 2009

Incase you're not aware on 11th and 12th July this year the 2nd international festival of falconry will be held near Reading at the Englefield Estate.


There will be workshops and discussion groups held in the seminar tent on both days, and in the arena there will be events throughout the day charting the history and culture of falconry with falconers from the Far east, Central asia, middle East and Europe.
There will be exhibits focusing on conservation, veterinary advice, falconry heritage,art, education areas, mews and weathering.

And of course best of all we will be there!
We will be selling prints, framed , mounted and loose. Those of you who have already pre-ordered the new 2010 Andrew Ellis calendar will be able to collect your copy, and hopefully there should be some available for those of you haven't preordered , we'll also have our new range of cards for sale, and if all goes to plan there will be a brand new print launched- more about that nearer the time.
If you'd like to find out more about the festival go to
www.falconryfestival.com

More images from the 2010 calendar

The response for the calendar has been great- thank-you! Since starting pre-ordering just under a month ago half of the 200 that will be produced have now been secured with deposits. At this rate they could all be spoken for by the time we get to the falconry festival in July. You've already seen 3 of the fantastic images that will be included, but incase you need a little more persuasion here's a couple more good reasons why you should order yours now.
Peregrine and Grouse

Orange breasted falcon

2010 Andrew Ellis bird of prey calendar

We've chosen 12 bird of prey images for the 2010 calendar, there's a good mixture to hopefully keep everyone happy including hawks, falcons, buzzards, and eagles.

It's an A3 sized wall hanging calendar, each page has a generous sized image of one of Andrew's stunning bird of prey paintings and at the bottom there is plenty of space for writing.To get an idea of how the calendar will look go to the homepage of the website and click on the link.Please note the order of the images will not be as on the site- this is just to show the chosen layout.
Gyr Falcon siblings

You can pre-order with a £5 deposit per calendar- balance to be paid upon collection at the falconry festival in the UK in July, or we can post them worldwide- if you wish for them to be posted to you we will send an invoice for the balance nearer the time.
Red Tailed Hawk

Remember only a limited number of these calendars are being produced so pre-order to avoid disappointment.We posted a new thread on the international falconry forum on Sunday night about it and within a couple of hours over 20 had been ordered, so it's definitely worth placing your orders quickly.