'Sanctuary Life' by Kit Jagoda (USA) represents life on their sanctuary with rabbits, goats, horses, pigs, sheep, cows, donkeys, dogs, cats, birds. Always busy, sometimes feeling chaotic and sometimes peaceful. Colorful and detailed, this painting reflects the joy of helping these animals.

Kit is the co-founder and director of River's Wish Animal Sanctuary. They care for cows, pigs, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, rabbits, birds, cats and dogs. She has been a full time public school art teacher since 1987. River's Wish Animal Sanctuary also offers Art and Animals workshops during the summer.

Find out more about the sanctuary here.

Nerea Martinez de Lecea (Wales) is an interdisciplinary artist working in photography, video, installation, multimedia and drawing. She is a co-founder of Llun a Lliw (Picture and Colour) a new press which produces colouring books and other things .

Visit her website: www.llunalliw.com

'May All Beings Be Free' by Michelle Waters (USA)

Michelle painted "May All Beings Be Free" to show that when it comes to suffering, a cat is a cow is a goat is a person. We all feel physical and emotional pain, and we all deserve to live lives of freedom.

Michelle Waters was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, into an artistic, progressive activist family. She has been making art since she was a small child, and holds a B.A. in Studio Art from University of California, Santa Cruz. Her art expresses concerns for the loss of the natural world and human exploitation of animals. Ms. Waters is a committed ethical vegan and has been an animal liberation and environmental activist for 30 years. Her art has also been influenced by her work as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator.

She has shown her art widely in the U.S., including in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Albuquerque and Seattle. Ms. Waters paints at home in the redwood forest of the Santa Cruz Mountains, an area that still has wildlife and is a source of great inspiration. When not painting she caters to every whim of her rescued feline family.

More of Michelle's work can be seen at www.michellewatersart.com

'Time to Change' by Ruth Killoran (New Zealand)

Ruth explains, "I’ve tried to express in my work the general lack of thought to our lifestyles. Animals are treated as trash, and the world and ourselves are suffering the consequences. There is hope, and to stop exploiting animals is a joy. It feels good to know you are treading gently on this beautiful planet and doing your best for its inhabitants.
There is a wealth of knowledge and support available and there could never be a better time to make the change to a more compassionate world than now.

I am inspired to create from strong human emotions. I feel passionately that all species are connected on some level and we need each other, not just to survive but to thrive.  My emotions drive me whether I am painting or sculpting.  I seldom have a plan, letting my subconscious take over and I am constantly experimenting and learning with the medium being used.

I love the spontaneity of painting with watercolour. I like the flow of paint to dictate the forms that gradually emerge, taking pleasure in creating flowing lines and shadows, hoping to create an emotional connection with the viewer. Stone carving with limestone evolves in a similar manner, gradually taking away layers revealing a form with a style unique to me.

As an artist I am compelled to work from my need to show people how I feel, good and bad..  The joy of being alive, the sadness of loss. Anger, frustration, disappointment, elation, confusion, misunderstanding, love, gratitude and hope for the future.  I have come to realise painting helps me see form in my sculptures and sculpting helps me see contrast and depth in my paintings. Both feed from each other and my time is shared between creating work using both art forms."

See more of Ruth's work at: www.ruthkilloran.co.nz/

'Vegan reasoning' by Pascale Salmon (France).

An activist for animal rights, Pascale's paintings are an invitation to think, to change our perspective of all animals who are exploited and are killed needlessly. Each animal deserves to live in peace and freedom.

Paca believes being vegan is the best way to evolve. It is time to awaken our consciences, to adopt a responsible attitude and take the path of veganism happy for a better world!"

To see more of her work visit: http://www.pascalesalmon.com/

'Reasons for Vegans' by Gemma Crombleholme (England).

Gemma explains, "When thinking of why I went vegan, my initial thoughts were of farm animals. Saving them was at the forefront of my mind. But as time went by, I realised that being vegan wasn't only about not eating animals. For me it's about causing the least possible suffering for all, and that extends to protecting endangered species, preserving rainforests, protesting hunts and fighting for all animals rights. And so came this piece. It would have been easy to use a cow or pig as a symbol of my veganism, but I wanted to show the other aspects too.

Art speaks to us all in one way or another, a universal language, so it makes sense to use it as a platform to get a message across. I've been vegan for about 5 years now and take so much joy in combining my love of animals with my passion for drawing."

See more of Gemma's work on Facebook.

'Dawning of a New Era' by Andrew Tilsley (England)

Andrew's painting represents a sunrise casting a shadow on monoliths which spell 'VEGAN'. The shapes represent different aspects of why veganism is important: the Earth, ecosystems, wildlife, domestic animals & human interests.

See more of Andrew's art on Facebook.

'Masquerading' by Dana Ellyn (USA)

Dana Ellyn is a full-time painter who lives and paints in her studio in Washington, DC. She committed herself fully to painting in 2002 when she decided to leave her corporate job and pursue her art. Ellyn’s style sits on the fence between social realism and expressionism. Having spent her childhood and college years honing her skills and striving to be technically correct, she now constantly tasks herself with unlearning those restrictive habits. Her animal-themed paintings strike a chord while creatively asking the question: Why do we love some animals and eat others?

See more of Dana's work:
Website: www.danaellyn.com
Instagram: @danaellyn
Twitter: @danaellyn
FB: https://www.facebook.com/dana.danaellyn
FB Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/Dana-Ellyn-176599042352240/

'The Remembering' by Philip McCulloch-Downs (England)

This illustration is inspired by the story of a friend Philip met on social media in January 2015. Initially intrigued by Philip's video/paintings, she asked about the meaning of his animal-related work, and the conversation swiftly lead on to veganism, animal testing, and to him recommending everyday meat-free foods.  Several months later she and her family are pro-actively changing their lives to a virtually vegan one.  She says she feels healthier, guilt-free, and is proud to be passing on all she has learned to everyone around her.  She now sees the world of animals, nature, and humans as an interconnected whole.  As a student she was a vegetarian and an animal lover, and over the intervening years she ‘forgot’ as the routines of conventional everyday life took over.  She recently said to Philip “Thank you for helping me remember the person I used to be.”

Philip was born in 1970 in Malvern, Worcestershire, and by the age of four he was drawing and painting dinosaurs and spaceships.  After a brief period during primary school of wanting to be either a dustbin man or a magician, by the time he was eighteen it seemed that his direction in life (however ill-advised) was clear.  He moved on from dinosaurs and magic tricks, gained a degree in illustration at Leicester Polytechnic in 1992, moved out of the city to Somerset and changed his lifestyle from vegetarian to vegan.  He's  spent the intervening years refining and exploring his chosen craft by learning how to process the experiences of everyday life through his Art, forming a visual diary of his life in paintings, poetry, novellas and videos.

Philip became fully vegan when he began working at Viva! (www.viva.org.uk )  in 2003. This amazing organisation educated and inspired him, and all his personal artwork and writing were forever changed to Animal Rights/Vegan themes.  Since contacting the animal rights photographer Jo-Anne McArthur in 2014 and (with her support) creating a portrait of her and her work (in his painting/story/video  ‘The Ghost Camera’)  He's  become fully committed to the vegan/animal rights art movement, gained a following on social media, and produced a series of designs, prints, cards, and fine art animal portraits for sale/auction for Viva!

Philip hopes to use all his skills to fight for this cause from now on.
See more of Philip's work here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/sbl2323
www.philipdownsart.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/PhilipDownsArt?fref=ts

'Open your heart to Empathy' by Kristina Sabaite (Spain)

Do you remember when you were a kid and felt so much love for all animals? And  then we became adults ad we forgot that and became addicted to social and cultural norms of what is good and what is bad without questioning it. We need to open our hearts and let empathy, caring and love envelop our hearts. It is so urgent...Animals are sentient beings like us humans are. They feel and they want to live. Once our heart is open we can make this world a better place to live in!

Kristina Sabaite is a children´s book illustrator. Born in Lithuania, she now lives in Spain. She has illustrated 9 children books and collaborated in many charity events with my art. 

As a vegan and also animal right activist she enjoys working with animal concepts in her illustrations, with the way the society sees animals, the way we all love and adore beautiful animal pictures as these images remind us of our childhood. She likes to be positive in her art and  “rescue” the little child we all have in our adult hearts. Her mission is to make people smile, because when we smile we are able to do beautiful things for others.

Kristina works with both traditional and digital media. She also applies her illustrations on other different objects and art forms like toys, badges, bags, jewelry and fabrics. 

WEB: http://kristinasabaite.com/
BLOG http://kristinasabaite.blogspot.com.es/
FLICKR https://www.flickr.com/photos/krize 
EMAIL [email protected]

All proceeds from the sale of the 2016 calendar go to Veganuary.
The calendar goes on sale online from the 1st November 2015 here.  (link to be advised)