This year has seen many different wildlife scratchboard pieces come across my desk - large green iguanas, stately lions, adorable little otters, and birds of all kinds, to name just a few. I've been working really hard in the off season (post September festivals) to create more and more wildlife art as I look into 2017 with a full plate of art festivals and fairs. The year 2016 brought great new adventures in my career as an artist (representation at a New York City gallery - Agora Gallery), participation in new art festivals and continued success at tried and true ones, as well as a jump into the unknown - taking this crazy passion and business full time (more on that after the new year!).
My work is more than just work to me. Yes, I love animals and I think they are adorable, charismatic, interesting creatures, but I also want my art to stand for more. This year I created more, but also featured even more animals in the Endangered Species Series on my blog. If you haven't seen any of the posts in the series, they feature a new piece of artwork and specific information about the species, including physical descriptions, habitat + diet, range, unique adaptations to the species, their interactions with humans, and what threatens their existence every day. This is just a small piece of how I try to help support wildlife and wild places through education. I plan to DO more in 2017 and will share that with you in the coming weeks.
SO for now, here are a few of the wildlife scratchboard pieces I completed this year! Thank you again for stopping by and for being here with me!!
Green Iguana - 12"x16"
African Elephant Herd - 8"x10" | Conservation Status: THREATENED
Cows - 6"x6"
Flamingo - 12"x9"
Bald Eagle - 5"x7" | Endangered Species Act success story, officially removed from endangered species protection list
Grizzly Bear - 5"x7" | Conservation Status: THREATENED
Our Wild Brother (Chimpanzee) - 10"x8" | International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) 2016 Exhibition Award of Excellence | Conservation Status: ENDANGERED
Lionness - 8"x10" | Conservation Status: VULNERABLE
Zebras - 8"x8"
Cheetah Family: 12"x16" | Conservation Status: VULNERABLE
Big Horn Sheep - 5"x7" | Conservation Status: ENDANGERED
Asian Elephant: 7"x5" | Conservation Status: ENDANGERED
Ring-tailed Lemur: 8"x10" | Conservation Status: ENDANGERED
Rhinocerous: 7"x5" | Conservation Status: THREATENED to CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (five separate species with different statuses)
Jaguar: 12"x9" | Conservation Status: ENDANGERED
Otter: 7"x5"
Tarantula: 5"x5"
Wolf: 5"x7" | Conservation Status: ENDANGERED
Black Panther: 11"x14" | Conservation Status: ENDANGERED ("Black Panther" is an umbrella term that refers to any big cat with a black coat - jaguars, cougars, etc)
Snake: 5"x5"
Giant Panda: 5"x7" | Conservation Status: ENDANGERED