I Quit My Job to Become an Artist on Permanent Safari

Just a typical day at the office: Francesca painting in Samburu National Park in Kenya. (Photo: Francesca Sanders)

How often do most of us dream of giving up the nine to five grind and doing something we really love?

Francesca Sanders had the same dream. And then she actually did something about it.

I met Francesca while we were waiting to be let into the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. We exchanged the kind of niceties foreigners do about how adorable baby elephants are before launching into small talk about where we live and what we do.

“I’m a wildlife artist,” Francesa said with a joyous lilt in her voice.

“Come again?” I asked.

See, I’ve heard of wildlife and safari photographers. These days every schmo with an iPhone fancies themselves one, but an artist?

Francesca is a wildlife and landscape artist specializing in East Africa. She partners with conservation groups for her solo exhibitions, to help spread the word about what they do and raise funds.

Her studio is in London, but she frequently travels to Africa for work.

Not a bad commute, if you ask me. We sat down with Francesca once we finished coddling the baby elephant orphans to find out what inspired her to take the leap from corporate life to one of creativity, and to get her advice about how you could do it too.

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Children having fun on a mural painted by Francesca for Westgate school in East Africa. (Photo: Francesca Sanders)

Yahoo Travel: How did you first start doing this absolutely incredible dream job?

Francesca Sanders: I got a bit jealous when my boyfriend quit his job to set up on his own, so I did too. I always wanted to do my own thing, and had 33 money-making ideas on a spreadsheet. After a bit of thought, I rejected them all and decided to try painting full-time for a year. I bought a one-way ticket to Nairobi, and went to study with Save The Elephants.

Yahoo Travel: How does travel inspire your work?

Francesca Sanders: It always feels leveling to be the foreigner in someone else’s country, and to get a glimpse into another way of seeing the world.
I travel a fair bit in East Africa and there are two components that excite me — firstly, the wildlife. I always get a bit of a legal high from watching a herd of elephants. And secondly, you get to meet very passionate, pioneering people, often world experts in their field. In a cafe, you might find yourself sitting next to the world expert on the elephant shrew, or on tribal prehistoric hand axes.

Painting during the competition Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2015 at Waddesdon Manor, U.K., which aired in November 2015 on SKY arts channel.(Photo: Francesca Sanders)

Yahoo Travel: What advice do you have for someone who wants to do what you want to do?

Francesca Sanders: If I can do it, you can. You just have to want to keep at it.
I think people in general want to help others who are passionate about doing something different with their lives. I have pretty much existed off the goodwill and thoughtfulness of other people who have helped me.

Yahoo Travel: What are you doing next?

Francesca Sanders: I have just finished a show with Ralph Lauren in London, in partnership with the Lewa Wildlife conservancy, so I’m off to the bush again to start on some new work, perhaps with a focus on the Turkana area of Kenya. A huge hydroelectric plant is unwinding this very ancient area with dramatic speed, and I hope to capture some of it before it disappears. I’ve also started painting a bit more in my own backyard, and am working on some sketches from the Isle of Skye, on the west coast of Scotland. It’s another place to which I am getting addicted.

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