Penguin Town, 2026

Today is the day I head 6000 miles south to see the African Penguins in Simon’s Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Oh and there’s a little exhibition on 18th April called ‘Urban Penguins’….

Back in early January, 2026, I was scratching my head over a location for a solo exhibition in the spring. As if by magic, I caught a brilliant series on Netflix called ‘Penguin Town’. The series documents life within a colony of African penguins over the course of a year. Seeing penguins nest in gardens and hedges, crossing roads and generally getting to grips with urban life whilst they raise their chicks and pop off fishing daily really struck a chord in me. Not all penguins live in freezing arctic temperatures and these cute African penguins were beckoning me…..

If you havn’t already, check out this awesome series!

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So I booked a return flight to Cape Town, a hotel by the beach where the penguins hang and then pondered on what to create for my exhibition.

Since I’ve spent the best part of 4 years painting penguins, often in ‘human’ situations, the ideas flowed. The penguins needed to be African and there needed to be a degree of humour in most artworks too.

Next, I enlisted the help of 6 artist friends with the brief to create a piece of an African penguin in an urban situation, no larger than A3 size. Of course, they knocked it out of the park and their brilliant pieces can be seen on my Instagram and in the web store.

Next, I needed to show the art to penguin fans in the U.K., before heading to South Africa. so I set up pop-up exhibitions in Derby and Fleet (my home town). You can read all about it in my Instagram post.

So I’m all packed. 6000 miles. 42 artworks. 3000 penguins. What can possibly go wrong?! Please tune in to my Instagram for posts, stories and some reels of my penguin adventures. I last saw penguins in their natural habitat in 2018, in the Falkland Islands. That was the inspiration for my penguin art.

Selling any of my art at the exhibition is not important, just a mere bonus. It would be great if lots of people come to see it though. What really counts is absorbing the atmosphere of a town made famous by penguins, who are the real stars of the show. Sometimes in life you just have to say **** it and follow your heart. Then good things will usually follow……

There is no art gallery in Simon’s Town, so I took matters into my own hands and booked a cool space in a beach front hotel, just a few minutes up the coast in Fish Hoek

A selection of artworks in the show, including the awesome guest artists

Jameson,

Fleet, Hampshire.

Review of 2025