Spotlight

When we were in Kwando we happened on this young leopard on our way back to the camp in the evening. I was fascinated at how he just seemed to pop into the spotlight and as soon as we took the light off him he just vanished into the darkness. I knew then that I had to try and paint this image of him in the light.

A couple of small watercolors that I was commissioned to do.

This is a pastel of Bat eared foxes - I love them.

Well, I am back from the exhibition in Zambia, and what a disappointment it was. It seemed to me that the venue was badly thought out - it was held at the International Scool in Lusaka, which is a bit out of the way and with dreadful roads to get there. The opening night was very badly supported, and I got the feeling that they were not interested in other artists, that it was just a promotional evening for David Shepherd and his daughter and grand-daughter. I was hoping for more interaction between wildlife artists, maybe it would have been better if they had given the artists labels so we could identify each other and interact with each other. Then they cancelled the exhibition after only three days,(it was supposed to run a week), as the hall was double booked!!!!!!
But the rest of the trip to Zambia was really great, lovely to see where I was born, and catch up with some very special old friends.
At least I have learnt something from this experience - I will never attend another exhibition like this again without doing a lot more homework!!!!

Dust migration

This is one of the 3 paintings that I am entering into the art competition in Zambia which is going to be opened by David Shepherd. I am really looking forward to meeting the legend.

This is a large oil painting of the zebra migration at Khumaga.

Chimp magic

Another Chimpanzee painting for Zambia, this was in case the first one did not work out. This started as acrylic pours, and then I decided to leave it like that - and just do the detail work in the focal areas.

Evolution

This picture is painted onto a mirror, and yes, that is me that you see sticking out ... was very difficult to paint on the mirror and to photograph the painting. I wanted to do something different for the art competition up in Zambia, and liked the idea that you could see yourself next to the chimp and then when you come close your image becomes that of the chimp - hence the title evolution. I also wanted people to be aware of how close they are to us, especially when they are in the sights of a gun. I am not sure if the concept worked, what do you think?