Above picture: Leigh Wolfaardt’s The Albatrosses of the Prince Edward Islands, painted in gouache and graphite pencil, is now available for purchase as a limited edition giclée print
Leigh Wolfaardt is a South African artist with a strong interest in islands and their conservation. The wild and spectacular environments of islands and their wealth of animal life continue to be great sources of inspiration for her art. She is particularly passionate about seabirds, with a particular love for the majestic albatrosses, icons of the open ocean. Leigh has now made prints of her The Albatrosses of the Prince Edward Islands’ that depicts the islands’ five species available in support of the Saving Maion Island’s Seabirds: Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project.
Leigh writes to the MFM Project:
“I was super delighted with the enthusiastic response that my painting ‘The Albatrosses of the Prince Edward Islands’ generated at the live auction that was held onboard the Flock to Marion AGAIN! 2025 voyage, organised by BirdLife South Africa. My painting was created specifically to generate funds for the Mouse-Free Marion Project, which is aiming to eradicate invasive mice from Marion Island to protect its globally important and remarkable seabirds. To raise funds for this vital project, my painting has now found a new home, and I am making available limited edition giclée prints of the original artwork. 50% of all proceeds generated from the sale of the prints will be donated to the project. If you are interested in purchasing one of these prints and supporting the project to rid the island of the devastating effects of the mice on these beautiful birds, visit my website here.”
Southern Giant Petrels are also at risk to mice on Marion Island, artwork by Leigh Wolfaardt
Leigh Wolfaardt is the partner of Anton Wolfaardt, the Mouse-Free Marion Project Manager. Together they have lived and conducted conservation research on seabirds on South Africa’s Dassen Island, in the Falkland Islands and on South Georgia. Leigh and Anton now live in a Victorian house 150 km from Cape Town in the heritage village of Stanford, set in a tapestry of farmland, fynbos and mountains along the famed Cape Whale Coast of South Africa.
The MFM Project is most grateful for the support it receives from Leigh Wolfaardt, and from the many other artists who donated originals or prints for the Flock 2025 auctions. On a personal note, the MFM News Correspondent is proud to have print 1/500, signed for him by Leigh and presented by the MFM Project, hanging in pride of place on the ‘albatross wall’ in his Rondebosch home.
John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 1 April 2025
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Wandering Albatrosses display and incubate on South Georgia, linocut by Leigh Wolfaardt
The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean. The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate. For more information or to support the project please visit mousefreemarion.org.
