In conversation with… polar artist Sarah Barnard

24/03/2025

We caught up with Sarah Barnard to talk about her favourite explorers, a cuddly rabbit called Bunners and her latest project – a polar book club.

Sarah Barnard is an award-winning professional polar artist and illustrator with a background in ocean exploration and marine biology. She has worked as a full-time artist since 2015. She works in pencil, watercolours, acrylics, airbrush and pastels, and also makes cyanotypes.

We caught up with Sarah to talk about her favourite explorers, a cuddly rabbit called Bunners and her latest project – a polar book club.

You describe yourself as “polar exploration obsessed” – how did this obsession begin?

I went to school in Cambridge, just around the corner from the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), so I remember going there for a school trip and hearing the story of 'Scott of the Antarctic', and feeling very affected by it in a way that I hadn't been by history before. The fact that you can see Captain Oates' actual sleeping bag was absolutely mind-blowing to me and still is.

Scott Party at the Pole, watercolour on paper (Sarah Barnard)

Over the years, I collected lots of polar exploration books without really noticing, and then, around 2008 I suddenly realised how much I loved these stories and that's when the obsession really kicked off!

Who’s your favourite explorer and why?

It changes quite often! This year, I launched the Polar Book Club and our first book was Frank Worsley's Shackleton's Boat Journey, so at the moment Frank Worsley is a big favourite and I'm making a small collection of artwork around him and his exploits. I'm also keen on Captain Bob Bartlett – most famous for the Karluk disaster – and I really like Tom Crean, both as a man and a subject to draw!

Portrait Drawing of Tom Crean, graphite on paper (Sarah Barnard)

You’ve studied Fine Art, Marine Biology and Ocean Exploration – how did you come to combine these disciplines?

By mistake mostly! I'd always wanted to be an artist, but in the days before social media it was much more difficult to get your work seen and make a living. I went into marine biology because I've always loved the sea. I didn't realise the course would involve me getting my shoulder dislocated by a giant Pacific octopus! 

I worked in aquariums for a while and then went back to university to study Ocean Exploration because it was the only degree with the word 'exploration' in the title. We used side scan sonar to study the seabed and did a little bit of marine archaeology – that knowledge has been wonderful to dip into when I've been to talks by Mensun Bound, John Shears or John Geiger.

I had been working as an artist for a little while when I happened to attend a talk Michael Palin was giving at the SPRI about his book Erebus, and the same week I visited the RRS Discovery in Dundee. The polar obsession came back in full force and I haven't looked back since.

How would you describe your artwork to someone who has never seen it?

Predominantly blue! I paint blue watercolours, and make cyanotype prints which are blue as well (cyanotypes are an early form of photography using chemicals that develop under UV light, so they're sometimes called 'sun prints'. They may have been used by John Davis, artist and naturalist on the Ross expedition to the Antarctic from 1839 to 1843. 

I also draw large scale portraits with graphite, which have been used as illustrations on a few different products and event posters, such as for the RSGS Festival of Shackleton in Dundee last year. 

Everything I make is about either polar explorers or polar environments.

You work with a variety of methods and materials. Do you have a favourite?

As with my favourite explorers, it changes a lot. Sometimes if I haven't used something for a long time I'll miss it and want to go back to it. I hadn't used watercolours for ages, and then I was asked to create an illustration to mark the centenary of Amundsen's N25 expedition by the Roald Amundsen's House Museum, and it was so lovely to be able to get back into painting again! At the moment I'm making cyanotypes but I would love to do some more portrait drawings soon. I'm also hoping to start lino printing and possibly oil painting soon as well.

Please tell us about your project at Discovery Point with the RRS Discovery.

I had an exhibition at Discovery Point in 2023, called Out of Sight // Out of Mind. It was a collection of portraits of polar explorers and scientists with their eyes closed. I was really surprised at how receptive everyone was when I asked if I could draw them! 

The show included legends like Felicity Aston, Louis Rudd, who trained me on a polar expedition skills course, and Craig Mathieson, who founded the Polar Academy, which is a brilliant charity that takes children on expeditions to Greenland. It was brilliant to be able to exhibit at the Discovery because it was such a huge part of what started me on the polar art route. I'm hoping to be able to exhibit there again soon.

You spent some time in the Arctic as an artist-in-residence. Please tell us about the experience.

I was one of the artists in residence on the Arctic Circle Expeditionary Residency in 2022. The residency involved sailing around Svalbard on the wooden barquentine tallship, Antigua, which is pretty much as close as you can get as an experience to the 'Heroic Age' explorers these days. 

Antigua, Svalbard, cyanotype print on watercolour paper (Sarah Barnard)

We were coming into Polar Night at the end of October, which meant the landscape had a dreamlike quality. To be able to experience the Arctic in such a quiet way felt like an incredible privilege, if I could go on that residency every year, I would!

Do you still have a dream destination you haven't visited?

Antarctica! I will get there one day. It's important to me that when I do go, I do it in the right way: on a small ship so we can make landings, maybe even visiting the famous Scott and Shackleton huts. That's the dream. 

I'd also love to visit Port Lockroy as well. Although, I'd probably bankrupt myself in the gift shop. I've often been tempted by the adverts to work there but I fear my love of hot baths is too strong.

Sarah would love to visit the Port Lockroy gift shop (UKAHT/Sophie Montagne)

What luxury item would you take if you were working at Port Lockroy for the season?

This is an easy decision for me! I have a cuddly rabbit called Bunners who is extremely well-travelled. He wears a little hoodie from the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society in Hammerfest, Norway, and was frozen almost completely solid in Svalbard at 80° north! He'd love a trip to Port Lockroy.

What's next for you?

Things are looking surprisingly busy!

I'll be releasing a new collection of cyanotypes pretty soon. I've been learning about how Frank Hurley made his photographic composites, with help from Hurley expert Shane Murphy, and attempting something similar with cyanotype printing using negatives. I'm also hoping to make more work for the Roald Amundsen's House Museum to mark the next three centenaries – it's a big few years for Amundsen fans!

Sarah is involved in several polar-related projects (Sarah Barnard)

As well as my own practice, I also run the Polar Artists Collective, and a few opportunities have come up recently that I've been able to share with the fantastic group, including donating artworks for the South Georgia Heritage Trust and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust auction, and submitting work for the New Polar Times. We also put on virtual exhibitions and our New Year show is still available to view.

The Polar Book Club has reached 90 members in less than a month, which is absolutely mad. Our next two book club picks have been chosen and we're hoping to be able to facilitate author talks soon!

Finally, what’s your favourite species of penguin?

My favourite species of penguin has to be the Adélie for me. I love the way they look like they're always having a bit of a crisis and they're furious about it.

Sarah has a soft spot for the Adélie (Credit: Dominic Hall/Shutterstock)

Find out more about Sarah’s work via her website and on Instagram where you can also join the Polar Artists Collective and the Polar Book Club. You can also learn more about the Arctic Circle Expeditionary Residency and the New Polar Times, which will be launching later this year.