David Shepherd OBE

David Shepherd was born in Hendon, London, England. As a child he lived in Totteridge, North London and he won a children's painting competition in a magazine called Nursery World when he was eight years old. He then attended Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. Upon leaving school he travelled to Kenya with the hope of becoming a game warden, but was rejected. He returned to the UK but was rejected by the Slade School of Fine Art in London. However, he was taken in by the artist Robin Goodwin who trained him for three years.

Neal Brown said in frieze magazine: "David Shepherd is one of the most financially rewarded painters in the UK... Shepherd has brought pleasure to millions, as seen on the many table mats, posters and commemorative plates that bear his work. David Gower said, "There is a sense of the atmosphere of the African bush that emanates from all his work.

He became interested in conservation during an early expedition into the African bush, where he discovered a poisoned water hole with a large number of dead zebra. He has since become an outspoken world-known campaigner, and devotes much of his time to this. He is also a steam railway enthusiast, but said in a letter to the UK Railway Magazine, "you can always build another steam loco but you can't build another tiger." One of his best known paintings is called Tiger in The Sun, painted in 1977. He is also known for his paintings of elephants. He is the founder of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. He received an OBE dated 31 December 1979 "for services to the conservation of wildlife." He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to charity and wildlife conservation.

Visit David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation Website