Following a month of casting a ballot and more than 3,000 individuals participating and deciding in favor of their piece, the winner of the BBC Wildlife Magazine People’s Choice Award for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation Wildlife Artist of the Year 2021 Competition has been uncovered!
The shocking texture and weaved collection of a bonobo by craftsman Sophie Standing got the most votes from individuals from people in general.
“I am so ecstatic to have been awarded the BBC Wildlife Magazine People’s Choice Award, what an honour!” says Sophie. “Taking part in this year’s David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s Wildlife Artist of the Year was incredibly special. To see so many talented artists from around the globe coming together to raise money and awareness for the plight of our planet and its wildlife, was just amazing.”
As the triumphant craftsman of this honor, Sophie wins a BBC Wildlife Magazine prize group comprising of a year’s membership to BBC Wildlife Magazine (worth £58.50), a Wildlife World Solitary Bee Hive (worth £37.99), a Vango Stone 15 Navy Rucksack (worth £16.00) and a book of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 29 (worth £25.00).
“It’s been a real joy for BBC Wildlife to partner with the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation on the Wildlife Artist of the Year competition this year – hopefully the first of many years working together to showcase the world’s finest wildlife artists while also supporting vital conservation work,” says Paul McGuinness, proofreader of BBC Wildlife Magazine.
“I’m delighted that Sophie’s bonobo won the BBC Wildlife Magazine People’s Choice Award. The incredible texture and detail Sophie achieved with such an interesting choice of materials reflects me the connection between us and our primate cousin.”