When I saw the photograph of indigenous people protest in Brasilia in April 2019, the powerful image of strong women stopped me in my tracks. I instantly knew I will have to paint it...

If you know me or if you’ve been following my work for a while, you know that in my art I love portraying females with a story behind and that I’m also passionate about sustainability and nature. ‘Defend the Sacred’ artwork combines two of my passions and brings the powerful message.

When I went travelling through Brazil and Argentina in 2013, I saw first hand what impact we have on the environment of such a fragile ecosystem as the rain forest. I saw what deforestation and plastic pollution does to the environment and local communities.

We seem to be used to dismissing indigenous matters as a brief or short-lived issues but we have to understand that same greedy forces that have threatened indigenous ways of life for decades are accelerating the devastating effects of climate change.

I have so much respect for indigenous people and it is important  now more than ever to listen to their wisdom.

“While the struggle to protect the environment and indigenous lands is not unique to Brazil, the specifics of the Amazon are exceptional. Far from the fringe issue it is often treated as in mainstream political discourse, solidarity with native peoples has become a global ecological imperative. “

“Rather than protecting what is left of the world’s largest tropical rainforest, the president (of Brazil) seems intent on opening up the jungle to commercial activities like mining and livestock grazing, his disregard for the ecological and climate value of the Amazon exceeded only by his contempt for its most vulnerable residents.”

“Indigenous Brazilians, who live on protected lands throughout the country, over half residing in the Amazon rainforest, have faced recurrent violence from those seeking to exploit the land.”

“The international community, accustomed to dismissing indigenous matters as a fringe or ephemeral issues, will have to adjust to today’s reality: The same rapacious forces that have threatened indigenous ways of life for decades imperil the world by accelerating the devastating effects of climate change. We are late, perhaps irreversibly so, to this realization.”

Fragments of a What Indigenous Rights Have to Do With Fighting Climate Change article by Professor Andre Pagliarini published in New Republic on August 7, 2019.

Here at LE, I’m committed to reducing my impact on the environment. From innovative packaging and sourcing
carbon-neutral and eco-friendly papers to minimising and recycling my waste, I’m dedicated to doing good for our planet.

• The ‘plastic’ selves in which some of my art prints come are made out of NATIVIA which is a bio-based film which is fully compostable and biodegradable.
• The ink on my compliments slips is plant based.
• I’ve donated 100% profit from the sale of the original ‘Greta’ portrait as well as the art prints towards planting more trees supporting The Woodlands Trust.
• Our boxes & postal tubes are made from recycled & recyclable materials.