🌊 A Deep Connection to the Ocean: My Work with the National Marine Aquarium Home of the Ocean Conservation Trust

One of my absolute favourite places to spend time — and gather inspiration — is the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth. It’s not just a place full of ocean wonder; it’s also home to the Ocean Conservation Trust, a brilliant charity doing vital work to protect and restore our blue planet.

I often visit the aquarium — sketching, observing, and soaking up the calm of the underwater world. There’s something incredibly grounding about watching the fish, the seahorses, the gentle pulse of the jellies... and of course, the mischievous green turtle called Friday! (Yes, I’ve painted him too — he’s a real character.)

You can also find a selection of my fine art prints available to buy in the aquarium’s shop. While I receive a portion of the sale as the artist, the shop profits go directly towards the running of the National Marine Aquarium and supporting the Ocean Conservation Trust’s conservation, education, and outreach work. When you purchase one of my prints there, you’re also helping protect our oceans. I absolutely love being part of something bigger than myself in that way.

🎨 Celebrating 25 Years: Painting the Atlantic Ocean Exhibit

To celebrate the aquarium’s 25th anniversary, I was honoured to be invited to create a painting inspired by their Atlantic Ocean Exhibit — one of the largest and deepest aquarium tanks in the UK. It’s an awe-inspiring space that gives you the rare chance to see some of the ocean’s most powerful and graceful creatures up close.

• Inside that exhibit you’ll find:

  • Sand tiger sharks – With their iconic protruding teeth, these sharks may look intimidating but are known for their calm, slow-swimming behaviour. They typically inhabit warmer Atlantic waters, such as those near the US and South Africa.

  • Nurse sharks – Gentle bottom-dwellers who often rest motionless during the day and become more active at night.

  • Eagle rays – These graceful swimmers are mesmerising to watch, gliding like birds through water with their elegant, spotted wings and long tails.

  • Friday the green turtle – A beloved resident and a bit of a local celebrity. Watching Friday cruise through the water with curiosity and charm is always a highlight.

  

• 🌱 Restoring Habitats and Inspiring Action

  What I admire most about the Ocean Conservation Trust is their action-led, optimistic approach to conservation. They believe in connecting people with the ocean to inspire long-term care and responsibility for its future.

  One of their most impactful projects is the Seagrass Restoration Programme. Seagrass meadows are underwater superheroes — they support marine biodiversity, stabilise sediment, store carbon, and provide nursery grounds for many marine species including seahorses. The OCT grows seagrass seedlings in specialist labs and replants them in carefully selected locations around the UK coast, helping to restore these crucial habitats.

  The OCT also works tirelessly to improve Ocean Literacy — helping people of all ages understand their connection to the sea. Through education programmes, community outreach, and immersive experiences at the aquarium, they inspire ocean advocacy that goes far beyond the walls of the building.

  

💙 Why It Matters to Me

My relationship with the ocean goes far beyond admiration — it’s something I feel deeply. There’s a quiet power in the sea that grounds me, centres me, and restores something in my soul. It’s a place where I feel truly myself — calm, creative, connected. When I visit the National Marine Aquarium, it’s not just about observing marine life — it’s about absorbing a feeling I can’t always put into words. That stillness, that energy, that sense of being part of something vast and beautiful.

As an artist, I try to capture that emotional connection through my work. The way light moves through water, the gentle pulse of a jellyfish, the soft shimmer of a ray gliding past — I’m not just painting what I see, I’m painting what I feel. Each brushstroke is infused with the tranquillity, vibrancy, and awe I experience when I’m near or under the sea.

Collaborating with the National Marine Aquarium and supporting the Ocean Conservation Trust means everything to me, because it ties my creative practice to something with real-world impact. I love knowing that my art can do more than decorate a wall — it can invite people into a moment of peace, spark curiosity about our blue planet, and even help protect it.

The ocean has given me so much — inspiration, perspective, healing. My hope is that my paintings can give a little of that back.