Artist & Painter Rebecca Latham’s Nature & Wildlife Art

A quick post about an event that will be showing some of my (and my family’s) paintings - an avian themed exhibition. The "It’s For The Birds" exhibition is being held at the Eugene H. and Dorothy Kleinpell Gallery in River Falls, Wisconsin. The opening reception is being held this Sunday (March 16th) from 2-4 pm. The University of Minnesota Raptor Center will be at the opening giving a presentation "All About Owls" at 2pm. The exhibit runs through April and has special events scheduled for the weekends during the show. ( Get directions )

First of all, I need to thank everyone that came to the NatureWorks show in Tulsa this past weekend - It was fabulous to meet all of you…and see familiar faces again! My family and I really appreciate your support for us and our work. We really love what we do and are so pleased to see that others enjoy our finished pieces and the wildlife that is so meaningful to us as well! Thanks for making the 2008 NatureWorks one of our best showings in Tulsa! We look forward to seeing everyone again next year! ( www.natureworks.org )

Also…. Some gallery news - For those who may not know, we are now represented full time in Texas by Whistle Pik Galleries ( www.whistlepik.com ). Their gallery is one of the most beautiful show places that I have seen and the people who run the gallery are superb.

Our gallery in Montana is expanding ( www.moosehorngallery.com ) - they will soon be opening another Moosehorn Gallery in Washington state. The Montana gallery will also be having a large event this summer that we will be attending in Big Sky with a new collection of artwork. …so we will be busy at our easels for a while.

Lastly (..but definitely not least…) An article about our family, "A 24/7 Family Affair", is featured in this month’s issue of Wildlife Art Magazine. Thanks to Wildlife Art and our author, Fran Howard! ( www.wildlifeartmag.com )

 At the end of 2007, my Mom, Karen, sister, Bonnie, and I returned to the Artists For Conservation, an association/society of artists that is dedicated to conservation of nature.   The profile for my membership on the AFC foundation’s website has just gone "live", with my family’s soon to follow.

Artists for Conservation Foundation (AFC)
http://www.natureartists.com
"The Artists for Conservation Foundation (AFC) - formerly the Worldwide Nature Artists Group (WNAG) - is a non-profit, international organization dedicated to the celebration and preservation of the natural world. The Foundation represents the world’s leading collective of nature artists and an unparalleled pool of artistic talent focussed on nature. The organization’s mission is to support wildlife and habitat conservation, biodiversity, sustainability and environmental education through art that celebrates our natural heritage.  The Group is the most progressive and prestigious organization in the world of nature art and represents hundreds of millions of dollars in artwork."

This piece is one of my new miniature watercolor paintings – completed about a week and a half ago or so. It is 5×7 and of a great horned owl – titled “sentinel”. While painting this miniature, I noticed that haven’t painted too many owls in a while. I think I might paint a few more of them soon.

I sent this piece to debut at an exhibition of wildlife art in England, near London. It was a part of The Wildlife Art Society International’s annual exhibition of art in Kent. The exhibition was held at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, a wildlife conservation center that helps to restore a number endangered species in the wild through reintroduction.

One of the species that the park is trying to restore is the Rhino. I was very disturbed to hear earlier this fall that the West African subspecies of the black rhino, once listed as critically endangered, appears to now be extinct in the wild.

Researchers, on their latest trip to wildlife refuges in northern Cameroon, Africa, where the last of these creatures had been tracked, could not find any trace of the animals. Poaching for medicinal trade purposes and trophies, sadly, are suspected to be the primary reasons for the West African Rhino’s demise.

It angers me that beautiful creatures are illegally hunted to extinction for such a poor and pathetic purpose, robbing the rest of the world and all future generations from ever being able to see these magnificent animals as they once were. It is something that we can never get back. When a species disappears, it disappears forever.

The natural wilderness is filled with extremely beautiful and breathtaking views, habitats, and creatures.  Nonetheless, it is a wild and rugged terrain that is treacherous.  Many of the beautiful creatures that I study to render in my work are predators.  Because of this, there is always a certain danger to study them — whether it is in a zoo, on a wilderness safari, or with a trained animal.  But danger or not, there is no magnificence like anything I have been able to observe anywhere other than in the spirit of wild creatures or their untamed environment.

Being raised in a family that has a bond with the outdoors and the environment, I have always been taught to respect it.  In travels and adventures to capture the essence of wildlife and wild places, my family and I have been in a number of close encounters, including being charged by bears, stalked by tigers and leopards, knocked off our feet by wolves, grizzlies that are a bit too close to the hiking trail, and most recently, attacked by a cougar that plays a little rough (teeth in the base of my neck was a bit too far for me). 

I am always striving to represent the beauty and delicacy of nature in my work, but I also hope the significance of each species is conveyed as well.  Nature and all of the wildlife that resides in it is to be taken seriously and should be valued.  Each small part of our world makes up the delicate ecosystem that holds our lives in balance.

A tour of Merritt Island today.  Everything was just beautiful - and so many birds!! :)  I have been to this area before, but hadn’t been able to spend adequate time in the refuge for more in-depth study.  Truthfully, I would have liked to have spent a great deal more time than just today, but I do have to get back to the studio sometime to catch up on a few deadlines.

We had a bit of a behind the scenes tour today of the wildlife at Busch Gardens here in Florida.  All of their animals are so beautiful and well cared for — though, as nice as their enclosures may be, I do wish these animals didn’t have to be in captivity and were roaming free as nature intended. We were up early this morning as well to do some research of some of Florida’s resident wildlife.  I was just asked to paint some specific species from this area, so I am focusing my studies for that request at the moment.

I spent the day surrounded by wildcats — simply breathtaking. :)  We are working with Big Cat Rescue, gathering reference for new work through numerous hours of study.  We have some fund raising work scheduled for the near future - I will be sure to post about that when plans are fully developed.  Thanks so much to the keepers at Big Cat Rescue for their help!!

The organization is the largest in the world, and they are filled to capacity with rescued felines.  I find it disturbing that a furrier would (and does) sacrifice twenty cats for a small patch of white belly fur to make one fur coat.  One.  Or how someone would think that an African lion would make a nice household pet.  These are things that the Big Cat Rescue is working to change through their education programs.  It is a very worthy cause and deserves support.

My print signing sessions have begun.  I put a bit of time in autographing today at Maximum Graphics for the Ducks Unlimited Sponsor Print (only 4,500 more prints left to go!! ).

I visited the printer today to approve the final proof for the Ducks Unlimited Sponsor Print.  I think it looks very nice - the colors reproduced well.

It is really exciting to see the finished (or near finished) product of your artwork being made like this.  I am so happy to be able to do my part to help Ducks Unlimited the wildlife and wild places that mean so much to me .

I never posted the final image of my Canadian Goose painting, so here is the completed piece.  The painting is now in the process of being printed in lithograph.  I will add updates about that a bit later .