Art Safari was founded by Mary-Anne Bartlett in 1999, a unique independent travel company specialising in curating painting expeditions worldwide and delivering expert art tuition to thousands of creatives. Our small team at Art Safari HQ sitting on the Ferry Quay in Woodbridge, Suffolk, are devoted in providing guests with amazing experiences and a sketchbook full of memories. Meet them below!
Founder and Director
Turkey was one of Mary-Anne’s first big adventures in 1990, exploring Cappadocia with a sketchbook in hand and painting the world she was immersed in.
Her huge joy to travel and paint with likeminded people over the years fuelled her passion to found Art Safari, a travel professional company that has taken her to all corners of the globe for over two decades. Mary-Anne’s hometown of Woodbridge has been a trampoline for the rest of the world, taking her from Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Antarctica and all the way to the Artic regions.
Mary-Anne’s favourite destination is Malawi in the heart of Africa. When she isn’t travelling and painting you can find her kayaking on the River Deben.
Travel Manager
Hollie joined in early 2022 and comes from an adventure travel industry background.
She has travelled to many off-beat destinations around the world including Bhutan, Sudan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Malawi, Guatemala, Brazil and Uzbekistan, but has also travelled extensively around Europe and India.
Travel highlights include working at the Rio Carnival, a solo backpacking trip around Syria, and doing an internship at a publishing house in New Delhi for a time.
When not planning adventures, Hollie can usually be found with her nose in a book, checking out the latest films at the local cinema, and cuddling cats. She also dabbles in a bit of sketching, focusing mainly on people, birds and animals.
Travel Assistant and Marketing Coordinator
Jemma joined us in July 2023, having just graduated from Lancaster University with a first class degree in Fine Art.
Her travels have taken her interrailing across many European cities, an extraordinary safari in Kenya, snorkelling in the turquoise waters of Zanzibar and last year she joined our tour to Morocco, where she loved painting the Atlas Mountains with colourful inks and swirling lines and patterns. You can just see the edge of them here as she stands on the rooftop of a 17th century Kasbah.
Harriet joined us in September 2023, with a BA Hons degree in Animation Production and as a qualified RYA Senior Sailing Instructor. She is an artist and co-founder of a small independent art business called Memory Holmes.
Her travels have taken her to the Himalayan mountains in Nepal, the Haute-Savoie region of France visiting Lake Annecy and most recently adventuring to the Bahamas on an Art meets Science workshop with the Bimini Shark Lab, where she loved sketching underwater and swimming with several different species of shark. Harriet also enjoys snorkelling in Cornwall and Wales, as seen here in Pembrokeshire.
Nancy joined us in September 2024, having returned from 5 months backpacking Asia and Australia where she sky dived over the Great Barrier Reef, wandered around ancient temples and ate one too many Pad Thai’s.
Having grown up in the Middle East, she has travelled extensively throughout Asia, covering all corners from Jordan to China to Indonesia, with Vietnam taking the spot as her favourite. She has also travelled more widely to Africa, America, parts of Central and South America and is starting to take on Europe.
A travel highlight for Nancy is her solo trip to Africa, spending 3 months in Tanzania, Zanzibar and Ghana volunteering with little kids, exploring the beautiful African scenery including a trip up to base camp of Mount Kilimanjaro and an amazing Tanzanian safari.
She is a huge lover of the ocean with her most notable experiences having been swimming in the open ocean with Manta Rays in Bali, and wild dolphins in Zanzibar.