IMELDA ALMQVIST ART: JOURNEYS TO OTHER WORLDS, INNER WORLDS AND AROUND THE WORLD IN PAINTINGS!
A London family sails to the Dominican Republic in response to the
The SONG of the WHALE
Ulric Almqvist, a Swedish banker based in London, is about to realize a cherished childhood dream: he is sailing across the Atlantic to raise funds and awareness of behalfof whales and dolphins in our oceans at risk from whaling and pollution. He will do this in support of a charity in support of whales and dolphins.His boat is a Najad 520 from Gosport called Queens Ransom III. The great voyage starts on Friday 10 July 2009.
Humpback whale in arctic waters off the West Coast of Greenland, IAB August 2008
"A typical whale song lasts for perhaps fifteen minutes, the longest about an hour.// New songs appear on the cetacean hit parade. Very often the members of the group will sing the same song together.// If the songs of the humpback whale are enunciated as a tonal language, the total information content, the number of bits of information, is some 10^6 bits, about the same as the information content of the Iliad or the Odyssey"
Carl Sagan in his book 'Cosmos'
Banker with a dream: Ulric Almqvist and a small 'clone', 5 year old Brendan
Once upon a time there was a banker. He worked in the City of London. He wore a pinstripe suit and worked long hours that got in the way of doing other things. This did not stop him from dreaming of a parallel life . The banker was Swedish and had the straw blond hair of Vikings. He lived in a house called Rabbit Hill and had three little boys who all looked like him. They had dreams too. They dreamed of a Dad who spent more time with them doing boy things. They dreamed of adventures on a pirate ship. They dreamed of talking to animals and not going to school!
In his parallel life the banker was a Sailor, an Explorer of the Seven Seas. His three sons were the crew. And his wife... well, his wife was a mermaid, but not exactly what you'd call competent crew... The three little boys decided to raise money for charity. They did this by means of making fabulous paintings and many of these paintings were of the whales they saw in Canada last year while visiting Vancouver Island.
In the Spring of 2009 the Banker developed the habit of leaning out of the window every morning to hear what the birds were saying. The Banker had heard the Call of the Wild! He could no longer ignore the dream of sailing across the Atlantic and taking his family to a place called Samana Bay (or Baya Samana) in the Dominican Republic,where between 3000 - 5000 humpback whales gather in the breeding season (i.e. the months January to March every year).There was no stopping this Banker any longer. The whales were calling his name and so was the Spirit of the Sea!
You have guessed right! The banker in this 'modern fairy tale' is my husband. His name is Ulric Almqvist and he is determined to raise money and awareness on behalf of the whales and marine animals of our planet. He invites all of you to visit www.queens-ransom.com to read more about his trip.
Queen's Ransom on last year's adventure in the Norwegian fjords! 2008
The destination of the great voyage is the whale sanctuary of Baya Samana in the Dominican Republic. Here between 3000 – 5000 humpback whales gather in the breeding season (January to March every year).Their annual journey is a long trek that spans from the polar regions of the North Atlantic to the warm turquoise waters of the Caribbean.Over the centuries whale hunters have decimated our world population of humpback whales. They have been a protected species since 1966 but there is still a long way to go for a full recovery. Right now the world population of humpback whales has reached approximately 40,000 or about 30-35% of the original levels.
This painting was inspired by the voice print of a humpback whale singing a song. The sounds were picked up underwater by a hydrophone (underwater microphone). Prints made this way show surprisingly complex phrases and melodies. Humpback whales often continue singing for a day or more and they repeat the same basic song over and over
For more information about the project you can e-mail Ulric Almqvist on Ulric.Almqvist@dkib.com or you can call him on +447770 644 526
We have just designed a line of T shirts with Whales and Dolphin designs, all proceeds to ORCA!
'MOTHER WHALE SINGING FOR BABY WHALE', by Brendan (5)
THE SONG OF THE PREGNANT WHALE AND UNBORN BABY! by Quinn (9)
GRANDMOTHER WHALE! (Swimming with Daughter Whale and Granddaughter Whale)
Made by Elliott (7) in commission for Jo Badger
FEEL FREE TO GET IN TOUCH FOR A CUSTOM-MADE DESIGN!
All T shirts cost £10, concessions £8
I started this webpage with a quote by Carl Sagan and I will finish with his words:
"We humans, as a species, are interested in communication with extraterrestial intelligence. Would not a good beginning be improved communication with terrestial intelligence, with other human beings of different cultures and languages, with the great apes, with the dolphins, but particularly with those intelligent masters of the deep, the great whales?
Carl Sagan
Imelda Almqvist, 16 June 2009 (Last updated 23 July 2009)
DOLPHIN HAVING A PARTY WITH WATER BOMBS! by Brendan (5)
IMELDA ALMQVIST ART: JOURNEYS TO OTHER WORLDS, INNER WORLDS AND AROUND THE WORLD IN PAINTINGS!
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