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Sandra Temple, Wildlife Artist and Cartoonist

© Susanna McLeod

The creativity and imagination of Australian artist Sandra Temple are astounding. In her artistic career, she has worked in fashion design, jewellery design, illustration, murals, fine art, cartooning and more. Her several comic strips have tickled the funny bones of animal lovers, children and families.

Commissioned art pieces created by Sandra hang in collections across the globe; her awards are numerous and varied. She readily shares her seemingly inexhaustible skills teaching art and participating in numerous fundraising events. Through QWASI (Queensland Wildlife Artist Society Inc.), Sandra and other wildlife artists use their abundant abilities to help promote and protect endangered species.

Sandra thoughtfully took time from her busy schedule to answer a dreadfully long list of questions for The Cartoonists. Let's "listen in" as she speaks about her life and work as cartoonist:

I grew up travelling the world as an army brat. My dad was a chopper pilot sent to various trouble spots around the world and where possible , we followed. My mum was very young and had four young kids of which I am the eldest. Looking back now as an adult, I find what she did truly amazing.

I was actually born in 1961 in Hertfordshire, England as was my younger brother. My two younger sisters were born in Malta. Growing up I was so disappointed that I didn't have such an 'exotic' claim...as you can see, even at an early age it was never important to me to be a clone of my peers. My mum says I was drawing before I was 2 years old (and after watching my daughter, Stephanie's skill with the pencil, I can see she wasn't exaggerating). I must have been a precocious child as I was also conversing like an adult and found other children less interesting than the local wildlife.

Continuing in the great family tradition of telling everyone how to Save The World, Stephanie ensures I now know what it must have been like for my poor mum. As the only exhibiting Junior member of the Qld Wildlife Artists Society Inc, Stephanie shows a huge artistic talent and although I have never tried to 'teach' her as such, I'm sure just watching and listening and absorbing the arty atmosphere surrounding her since birth has helped her develop her own style. She knows if she gets stuck I'm here - and finds it quite easy to 'share' my art materials when she needs to. Her father left when she was only a baby and so I've been mum and dad for a long time.

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