Travel & Expedition Art
As an artist, Sherri documents her travels through acrylic and watercolor painting. Her work captures both the raw beauty and fragile impermanence of remote ecosystems. She teaches travel sketching, most recently for the 2024 Lowell Thomas Awards, and uses art as a bridge between science, culture, and human connection.
@2024 Sherri Manning. All paintings, photographs and images on this site are protected. No reproduction, distribution or use without written permission.
On the Banks of the Kinabatangan, Borneo
The river itself is wide, the color of strong tea and just as opaque. Boats — long, narrow, humming with diesel — glide between overhanging branches like rumors. Yellow and black striped crocodiles lie low in the banks, disguised as roots. And the proboscis monkeys, with their tragicomic noses and potbellies, leap between trees with a grace their bodies shouldn’t allow.
Hayden Valley, Yellowstone
A thin veil of steam lifts from the earth, as if the land itself is part of an ancient dream. Out in the open a herd of buffalo drifts across the plain. The Tetons are far away from here, but the valley holds its own kind of majesty, broad enough to swallow the storm and still have room for the sun.
2026 Pathfinder Prize
I am serving as the Creative Director on a film proposal submitted with the Sea Women's Explorer's team for the 2026 Pathfinder Prize, focused on Breaking Boundaries at the Bottom of the World expedition to Antarctica. The project seeks to chronicle our Antarctic expedition and highlight the resilience , science and stories of women pushing past the edge of what's known. Though still in the proposal stage, this work reflects the same blend of leadership, creativity and exploration that runs through my expeditions, travel art and writing.