Carleen Ross, like many AFC members, is committed to the conservation cause as demonstrated by her donations of prints for silent auctions as well as a portion of profits from her personal sales of her sea turtle artwork to several organizations. The conservations that she currently works with are, Malama na Honu from Hawaii who are dedicated to protect the green sea turtle, Turtle Island Restoration Network from California, and the Canadian Sea Turtle Network to expand her work to include the Leatherback sea turtle. Carleen has written articles for the Malama na Honu magazine on her passion for the green sea turtle and she regularly conducts art conservation talks to various groups. She donates portions of her profits to them annually.She donates portions of her profits to them annually and has just published her first book, ‘Journey to the Sea Turtle ‘ which is available from her site or from Amazon..
In her words "Through my support I hope to help them educate others around the world so that we can see these creatures leave the endangered species list. It's through the artwork that I create that I hope to inspire others to see the beauty that exists in our world. It's time for us to begin taking care of our earth and the creatures that exist with us. I am an artist that loves the oceans and all the creatures that exist within them. Every day I challenge myself to learn more about the animals I paint by reading books, scientific journals, and online articles. I watch documentary films that focus on educating the public about the perils that exist for the animals that live in the oceans. I speak and keep in contact with many sea turtle specialists in order to add to the knowledge I have acquired, and I incorporate the information they share into my artwork. I want the people who work closely with sea turtles to be able to look at my work and know I have everything scientifically and anatomically correct. In turn, this makes for a more realistic painting for others to view. But with all of the scientific knowledge that precedes the actually painting, I am still an artist who needs time to sit and create."
Having a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a strong focus in animal behaviour Carleen finds passion in striving to create a more educated public for the animals that we share this earth with. Most of her conservation work and educational efforts are in helping the conservation organizations that have come into contact with her personal journey to discover the green sea turtle
With her recent artwork she includes information about the individual turtle she painted if their identity is known; this information may be facts about the turtle's nesting locations, age, name, dive stats etc. If she does not know about the animal featured, she will send information about the turtle species with the painting. To further educate the public she will conduct talks when ever possible in conjunction of the display of her artwork.
Carleen resides in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada and spends time at her family vineyard in Edgewood, British Columbia. While she holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, with a strong focus in animal behaviour, she uses this education to raise awareness about green sea turtles. Her work is seen as being full of colour, as she creates paintings to illustrate to others how she sees the world around her. Her work can be seen across Canada; Kentucky, California, Florida, Kansas, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Washington in the United States; in Verona, Italy and in Portugal.
