Shackleton’s Ship Endurance Found!

I still think it’s so cool that they found Endurance after all these years! Waiting, hidden under the ice, in the depths of Weddell Sea. The wreck was uncovered on the 5th of March 2022, which also happened to be the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s funeral! Apparently she’s in pretty good nick and looking much the same as she did in the final footage taken of her by Frank Hurley in 1915, just before she sank.

I’m fascinated by Antarctic exploration. Particularly so by Shackleton’s famous expedition which inspired my work for our Drawn Chorus Exhibition ‘There and Back Again’ in 2017 (you can check it out here on my website if you missed it!). I might have to revisit the Endurance in my illustrations once more, especially now she’s home to a variety of ethereal deep sea creatures that would be awesome to draw!

As she was found in Antarctic waters, there she will remain! The wreck is now a designated monument under the Antarctic treaty and cannot be disturbed or moved. The search was carried out by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, who used a South African Icebreaker ‘Agulhas II’ and submersible technology to discover Endurance. Her name and star are still clearly visible 107 years after she was lost. What an incredible find!

Video by ABC News shared here without permission. Illustration by Owlstation.

In case you missed it…

For anyone that couldn’t make it along to ‘There & Back Again’ the exploration themed exhibition I took part in this Summer – you can now see my illustrations and listen to the audio installation on my website.

I so enjoyed taking part in the show and got completely obsessed researching my chosen subject matter! I created four illustrations that explored key points of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Endurance expedition. From the ship becoming stuck in the Antarctic ice pack, to the men marching across the floes in attempt to reach safety.

As I was reading Shackleton’s journal ‘South’, I became so struck with how eloquently he described their perilous journey and incredible surroundings that I wanted to find a way to share his words.

With the help of my brilliant actor friend, Pip Donaghy and talented composer brother, Mikey Parsons, we created an audio installation that allowed visitors to the gallery to hear parts of Shackleton’s adventure whilst viewing the illustrations (these can be found by scrolling down the project page on my website).

I learned a lot in preparing for this exhibition and there are a few things I will definitely do differently next time, namely:

Order my frames well in advance of the show in case they are all smashed up when they arrive and I freak out and have to make a last minute trip to a nearby glazier to replace the glass.

But I picked up things that were really helpful too, such as not being afraid to ask your printer for advice and that creating geeky mockups of how your pictures will look when hung on the gallery wall is actually pretty handy!

All in all, I’m really chuffed with how this exhibition turned out and had great fun taking part alongside such talented and lovely artists. I still have a few prints available from the show, so do get in touch if you see something you like or have any questions. Massive thanks if you made it along and i’ll look forward to seeing you at the next one!

Icebergs

Whilst working on the research phase for the upcoming ‘There & Back Again’ exhibition, I became completely absorbed by Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Journal and the Endurance expedition of 1914.

As a result there has been much drawing of icebergs amongst other things! Here are a few sketches I made in oil pastels and pencil.

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