Featured Artist in Endangered Exhibit

 I am excited to have been chosen to be the Virtual Artist in Residence for the exhibit Endangered promoted by the non profit group Art4Apes. Link to my bio and information is here. Link to the virtual gallery is here.

Endangered is "a team of art and photography lovers who believe that art, in all its forms, can reach people all over the globe and win hearts and minds for the cause of preserving all forms of life and the environment. To this end, we organize exhibitions, contests, and other events to focus attention on all that is ENDANGERED in our world.

We believe that reaching out to Young Artists and encouraging them to express their concerns for the environment and endangered species through art is important if we are to safeguard the future of our planet."

The Center for Great Apes is a non profit corporation whose mission is to provide a permanent sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees who have been rescued or retired from the entertainment industry, from research, or who are no longer wanted as pets. The Center provides care with dignity in a safe, healthy, and enriching environment for great apes in need of lifetime care. Please visit the website to learn more. ALL donations go directly to support the Center. 

I am also thrilled to have won 2nd Prize for my colored pencil drawing Endangered White Rhinos and 3rd Prize for my colored pencil drawing Majestic in the Endangered Exhibit. 

Solo Exhibit at Providence Art Club

I'm excited to have been asked to display my colored pencil drawings in a solo exhibit at the Providence Art Club Dodge House Gallery. The exhibit opens on March 26 and runs through April 14. My exhibit is titled Into the Wild and features drawings of animals and scenery from our safari trip to Kenya and Tanzania, Africa.  I am donating a portion of sales proceeds to Lewa Wildlife Conservancy  an organization that works toward to conservation and protection of its animals particularly the white rhino. 

See the invitation below for more information about the show, opening and artist talk.

Safari Drawing in Colored Pencil

I used a variety of reference photos from my safari trip to create this scene for customers who were looking for a custom wedding gift for their son and his wife. The newlyweds are very fond of cats so the lioness and her cubs were fitting as the main subjects. We decided on the other supporting animals and landscape for the middle and background. I used warm colors for this piece to depict the beautiful light of the Africa afternoon. My reference photos were taken from Kenya and Tanzania.

This drawing is 18x24" in colored pencils and drawn on cream Canson Mi-Teintes paper. I used a variety Prismacolor, Caran d'Ache Luminance and Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for this drawing. I choose different pencils because I want to use both lightfast pencils and certain colors to create my work. 

I sweated this one out because I hadn't worked on a piece so large in quite a long time and also because I had the concept in my head but could I put it on paper? My biggest struggle was what to do with the midground beween the animals to make it interesting yet still add some 'quiet' areas for the eye to rest between subjects. My second biggest struggle was depicting all those blades of grass in the foreground!! All in all I am happy with the result. 

Below is my beginning of the lioness and cubs. I may recreate them again just by themselves.