A Carlisle artist is a finalist in a global art competition in aid of conservation. 

David Lush, from Carlisle, has been named as a finalist in Sketch for Survival 2024, a competition and initiative in aid of conversation which this year received a record number of entries from across the globe and helps to raise awareness about species extinction and biodiversity loss. 

For his entry, David produced a mixed-media painting featuring endangered seabirds, Abbott’s Boobies.

David now plans to travel to London for an awards ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society on Thursday, November 14 where his artwork will be exhibited, along with the works of other competition finalists, at London’s gallery@oxo on the South Bank and Edinburgh’s Dundas Street Gallery.

Speaking after being named a finalist in the global competition, David said: "I’m really honoured to have been selected as a finalist in the competition.  Conservation is something that is very close to my heart.

"I chose to feature Abbott’s Boobies in my entry which are endangered seabirds nesting on Christmas Island. 

"That’s a long way from Carlisle but the birds are not so different from our local kittiwakes, gannets, and herring gulls, which I’ve returned to again and again in my art."