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Pictures: 'A skua flies close', 'Adelie penguins with fat chicks'. Drawings by Vikky Furse

Being an artist is not only about the work you produce, but also the opportunities that come your way. When a travelling companion of Vikky Furse mentioned she'd heard of an Artist in Residence programme in Antarctica, Vikky went into action. After much research, e-mailing and form-filling, she and her husband Chris won individual 'Artist in Residence' positions aboard an ice-breaker in Antarctica.

As with buses arriving at the same time, no sooner had Vikky and Chris secured these opportunities than they were offered another. A second ice-breaker, leaving from the same port in South America, and dovetailing perfectly with the first ship's programme. Chris was offered the post of Antarctic historian, boat driver and on-board artist - jobs perfectly suiting his CV. Luckily for Vikky, they were also looking for a 'Passenger's Log Maker'. As publicity officer for South East Open Studios for a couple of years, she had acquired all the necessary skills for the job. Her second job title was 'Artist at Large'. Vikky says, "I still can't quite believe my good luck, especially when I remember all the opportunities I applied for, and didn't get!".

Both voyages meant two days each-way crossing the Drake Passage, famous for being the roughest sea in the world, with the passing of Cape Horn a rite of passage. Once they reached the Antarctic Peninsular, the ship re-located each morning for the passengers to go ashore by Zodiac (small rubber boat), and explore for several hours. Chris says, "As well as the thousands of breeding penguins, the seals, and the birds you can see on the Peninsular and surrounding islands, there are many historic sites to visit. You can still see huts and remains left by the early explorers, even from the heroic age of Antarctic exploration." After lunch the ship made its way to another landing place. Some areas were uncharted, and the ship wriggled through narrow channels full of massive and spectacular icebergs. Sometimes a pod of whales passed the ship, or circled her, breaching and fluking, seeming to inspect the strange beast they were travelling on.

Vikky and Chris had exhibitions of their work on both ships, and sold well. "Passengers enjoyed watching us sketching on the beaches and rocks of Antarctica. Some people felt a huge connection with our work, in fact quite a few are still in contact with us. There is a feeling that when you are constantly snapping photos (as almost everyone does), you are taking pictures to look at later, and not really looking now. With all our new technology we have become a 'snap-snap, got that', kind of culture. Sketching forces you to look many times, but of course it comes with its own frustrations." Vikky drew and painted from the ship, and sketched in pen and ink at every landing, but it all took time. She explains, "Two or three hours is never enough, so I went snap-snap as well, but now I see, it's the sketches that give me the closest connection to where I've been." Vikky and Chris Furse are opening their studio to the public as part of South East Open Studios 2007 - 8 to 24 June.