The Lion Painting

Since leaving the Armed Forces in 2018 Hannah Shergold has become one of the most successful self-representing artists in the UK. She has already raised over £350,000 for charity through the sale of her artwork. In 2022 she took over the Mall Galleries, one of London's most prestigious venues, for her solo exhibition, raising over £100,000 for Tusk, Prince William's conservation charity for which Hannah is now an ambassador. Hannah graduated from Cambridge University in 2006 having studied pre-clinical Veterinary Medicine. After three years as a bronze sculptor she joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and commissioned into the Army Air Corps. Following a ground tour of Afghanistan with the infantry she qualified as a Lynx helicopter pilot and has served all over the world including Germany, Canada and Kenya. In 2015 Hannah was deployed to Kenya to conduct medical evacuation duties. Often based in austere locations in the remote northern deserts, she flew multiple casualties with life-threatening conditions to medical facilities in Nairobi. Having experimented with painting whilst on standby Hannah’s work quickly drew a following, and since her return to the UK in 2016 Hannah has featured on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, in the Financial Times “How To Spend It”, Mayfair Times, Luxury London magazine, and was listed as one of the top 10 “Women to Watch in the Arts” by About Time magazine. Still an Army Reservist and passionate supporter of military charities, in 2018 Hannah was chosen as the UK Invictus Games artist-in-residence, travelling to Sydney, Australia, in the autumn of 2018 for the Games. She raised over £50,000 for the UK team through the donation of her artwork. In early 2019 Hannah featured in the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year competition having won the only Wildcard slot for a place in the heats. Her portrait, produced live in only 4 hours, was selected by her sitter, ‘Top Boy’ and ‘Bulletproof’ actor Ashley Walters, to keep as his own. Later in 2019 Hannah dedicated her London exhibition to the Born Free Foundation, donating three original oil paintings as well as a percentage of her 2019 ‘Wild Collection’. With the help of Born Free founder Virginia McKenna and patron Joanna Lumley Hannah raised over £65,000. Hannah now paints and coordinates her philanthropic activities from her studio in Cheltenham.