Will You Miss Me? is a life-size image of a magnificent elephant in Samburu, Kenya who found an indelible place in my heart.. We had seen the herd at the Ewaso Ng'iro river having a bath, then they began to walk across the vast landscape. Our driver stopped the jeep a long distance away and we simply watched the matriarch lead her herd through the natural serenity of the space. After a while, it was clear that she was walking in our direction. Luckily, I was in the back seat of the open jeep, the highest vantage point. As she came closer, calm and beautiful, we were eye to eye. This was the final image before I slowly lowered my camera, not knowing what she might do. As she was only a few feet away, she gently shifted her gait and walked past my back. The baby behind her and the remainder of the herd did the same. When they had all safely passed, I slid to the other side of the jeep and took one more image of them walking away. This piece is 31 x 54 inches, is life size, and ideally should be hung on a wall so that her eye is 6 1/2 feet from the ground. Many people have asked me if I have named her, and I reply with "Oh no! She is wild and belongs to no-one." The title of the piece has become poignant for me as I have had to postpone the tour that I was leading until 2021, so the answer to Will You Miss Me? is a resounding "More than you can ever know!"
This is a limited edition of 10 with proceeds from all sales of this piece going to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Lewa Conservancy, both in Kenya.

The Sooke Fine Art Show is OPEN! Please check out the fantastic selection of artists who were selected for this unique edition of the show at sookefinearts.com 
As promised, I am posting the two image of my work that were selected with a little story for each.
*After The Rain*
The skies became dark very quickly and our driver scrambled to lower the side panels on the jeep to keep us dry. He, however, was soaked to the skin for his effort. After an intense but short downpour, the only uninterrupted view from the jeep was between the top of the windscreen and the bottom of the canopy. Straight ahead on a hilltop was a single Acacia tree, standing in silent simplicity, with two Topi emerging from their temporary shelter. The sky was gray and the silhouettes black, so, as per usual, no photo-editing was done. The image is 24 x 32 inches, printed on a metallic silver paper and dibond to aluminum. The nature of the paper gives the sky a luminescence and a slight appearance of color that changes and moves ever so slightly in ambient light and as the viewer moves past the piece. It is a limited edition on 5.

I am extremely proud to announce that my work is currently being exhibited in the beautiful Peninsula Gallery in Sidney by the Sea. Established in 1986, it has prospered into one of Canada's most acclaimed Art Galleries presenting high quality artworks of artists both local and of national renown. It is an honor to have my work displayed with my mentors and friends, Robert Bateman and Birgit Freybe Bateman. Currently, I have 25 works in the Gallery and will be present daily from Tuesday, July 7-until Saturday, July 18, from 10am to 5pm (closed on Sunday and Monday) so I hope to see you there!

I am thrilled to announce that I have had 2 pieces of my work chosen to be a part of the show. This year will be different though, as is almost everything else on the planet right now. The Sooke Fine Art Show will be taking local art to a world stage. As a result of the pandemic, the Show will be hosted online! Although everyone likes to interact with a piece of art in person, the steadfast and resilient organizers of this wonderful show have gone above and beyond to support local artists and bring art to the worldwide community. People can visit the show online anytime from July 24 to August 3, although it may be possible to buy art from the website until the end of September. This 34th anniversary of the Sooke Fine Art Show will be new, exciting and extraordinary! When the online exhibit opens, I will post my images here on my blog page and tell a story about each of them.

Life has been interesting lately to say the least. Self isolating and physical distancing has led to introspection and evaluating my life and purpose, wondering what the future might look like..Sometimes I get a lot done in a day, and sometimes, not a thing. Reading has become a renewed past time, always too busy before to settle in to a good book, I can now get lost in a story line or travel to a distant land simply by turning a page. Going through the house, cleaning, rearranging and editing things I had forgotten about, reminiscing and contacting people I haven't talked to in years. Covid has forced me to stop, relax, re-evaluate and re-focus on what's important to me. I've been able to educate myself more about wildlife conservation, and even though I'm not travelling this year, unless something changes dramatically, I am still involved in my own way. A portion of all of the sales from my work will be donated to 4 animal and wildlife projects, 2 in BC and 2 in Kenya. The Peninsula Gallery in Sidney BC now have an exhibit of my work and I have had 2 pieces accepted into this year's Sooke Fine Art Show. Even though the Coast Collective's physical gallery has closed for now, I also have work at the Juan De Fuca Rec Centre and at Mitzi Dean's Constituency Offices, both currently closed to viewing due to Covid 19. I'll continue turning the page to see what comes next...