Artist & Painter Rebecca Latham’s Nature & Wildlife Art

 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."

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I am very pleased to post that my Mom, Karen, sister, Bonnie, and myself have become members of two prestigious art societies from New York. The first has been in existence for nearly a century for American artists. The second has been supporting women artists for over one hundred years. I am very proud to be a part of these societies that have such a history of helping and supporting artists.

The Allied Artists of America (AAA)
http://www.alliedartistsofamerica.org
"Founded in New York City in the year 1914 to the present, the Allied Artists of America, Inc. will continue to achieve its goal of furthering the cause of contemporary American artists. Allied Artists of America, Inc. It is a non-profit National Art Society composed of artists & sculptors from the across the country. The offices and exhibition galleries are both located at the elegant historical landmark, The National Arts Club."

Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club (CLWAC)
http://www.clwac.org
"A national organization to show and promote works by professional women artists, founded in 1896. The Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, CLWAC, has been supportive of women artists for over one hundred years. The club is very proud of the high standard of quality and respect that our members have in the art world."

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I am very pleased to announce that my Mom, Karen, and I have just been accepted into the International Guild of Realism (IGOR).  I was encouraged to participate in the society by a friend I met online that is an existing member who drops by my blog occasionally, artist Cindy Haase (  http://cynhaase.blogspot.com/  beautiful colored pencils…definitely worth the click.. ).

International Guild of Realism
http://www.realismguild.com
"Our mission is to advance realism in fine art through museum exhibitions, art gallery shows, workshops, education programs, marketing support and Internet exposure.

For us, “realism” ranges from classical realism (based upon the traditional, academic-style painting techniques) to contemporary realism (where cutting edge techniques and subject matter are used to comment on today’s world). Trompe l’oeil, photorealism, surrealism, and super-realism are some of the genres included within the range of realism choices for modern artists, as well.

The International Guild of Realism was founded by a group of leading professional realism artists from around the globe in 2002 with four goals:

• Recognizing the best realists working today
• Creating exhibition opportunities
• Providing technical and promotional support
• To offer a bridge between art collectors and the highest quality realist art, created by our members

It’s all based upon the proven belief that the more art lovers of the world have access to high-quality realism, the greater the value these paintings will have. Value not just in monetary terms, but in appreciation, understanding and international attention.

For art collectors, we create juried exhibitions in museums and galleries that span as many aspects of realism as possible so that they can see the panorama of international work in this field in one show. For museums, we curate themed exhibitions that provide a snapshot of where realism is today. For fellow artists, we provide information about workshops conducted by members and magazine features about realism techniques so that the quality of the art form continues to improve around the world.

It’s all based upon one simple premise: The more realism artists succeed in the competitive art world, the greater the benefit to the art lovers of the world."

"The Courage of Integrity"
"The highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity.  Choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over popularity…  these are the choices that measure your life.  Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for there is never a wrong time to do the right thing."

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This is the progress of the black leopard watercolor painting that I have been working on (see an earlier post here).  It is beginning to have the feeling of mood and atmosphere that I am striving for in this painting.  I will be refining it further (which, I suppose, is difficult to tell being that this photo is a bit web dithered… )  and adding other details to it as well.

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This is a painting that I was requested to paint of two otters.  This is the beginnings of the fur texture being put into place with many fine, delicate strokes.  (…this is actually one of my favorite parts of a painting - the very beginning and seeing all of the textures begin to develop.)  I love to bring out the finest details in the faces of the animals (or focal points of my floral pieces) with the lightest strokes.

In miniature painting, some artists use such fine strokes that they are only seen by magnifying glass, while others use more visible strokes in their pieces that are best not viewed under magnification and carry well from a distance, as observed by a Swiss miniature art expert.

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This is the beginnings of the black leopard miniature painting with the initial rendering of the fur.  (The sketch post can be seen here.)  There is much more to do on the piece of course, but the feel of the fur texture is in place. 

I am eager to begin painting the soft subtle tones of color reflected in the fur and eyes - the contrast of the look of intensity of the cat and the delicate shades I will add in watercolor.

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This is the beginnings of a drawing for another miniature watercolor piece I have in the works.  I was requested to paint a more aggressive pose of a black leopard as a smaller miniature, so this is a 5×7 of a leopard ready for an attack. 

The subject of the painting is a cat that, though he was in captivity, he was very intent on stalking my sister.  (Which was odd, because I am usually the one who is stalked. )  So…  it was a nice opportunity to gather some wonderful references of a very intense cat. He was absolutely beautiful.  I hope to do him justice in the painting.

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This is a little miniature I’m working on as well.  It’s a chipmunk that I saw while I was out in Wyoming this fall.  There were two of them that were scavenging around a park area.  They were fairly used to being around humans, so they did come up fairly close - was very interesting to watch them.  (My family had a hard time dragging me away from them… )

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I thought that I would post a little of my inspiration.

I do quite a bit of digging around researching earlier miniature art through various different sources.  The art of miniature painting has so many different facets to it and connected to so many cultures.  Seeing so much that has come before me is very inspiring in my own painting.

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This is a new miniature I am working on.  This is a 9×12 painting of a wolf - very soft tones in this piece.  I liked the more unusual pose of him, his ears back, makes the piece more unique and helps give a deeper story to the painting with the animal’s behavior (a defensive posture, perhaps a little unsure of his environment).  So far, this piece has progressed very quickly.

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