Big Cats
Oils
PANTHERA ANNUNCIATA
Panthera Annunciata (Snow Leopard - Lifesize) Oil on board.h. 45.00" w. 54.00"
I painted my life size Snow Leopard after watching the David Attenborough film of the Snow Leopard. I was so deeply moved by what was revealed of the Snow Leopard’s glorious but fragile existence, that the idea that I must find a way to paint to raise funds for these most endangered creatures, the very jewels in our planet’s crown.
This magnificent Cat stands, almost melting into its rocky background, in the foothills of the Himalayas, whose heights can be viewed in the distance. When I had finished this big painting, I declared: - Now I have brought you into existence, you will earn money for your kind! And so began my mission to paint my heart out for Wild Cat Conservation !
SNOW LEOPARD HUNTING
Snow Leopard Hunting. Oil on board.h. 28" w. 36" (h. 71.12cm w. 91.44cm)
This Snow Leopards almost flows down the rocks, like a waterfall, in pursuit of a Markhor. Both predator and prey display dizzying agility in the race down the rocks. This thrilling life and death race will end in death for the markhor, but a gratifying meal for the Cat
WHITEOUT
Whiteout. Oil on board. h. 34" w. 40" (h. 86.36cm w. 101.60cm)
I painted Whiteout with both joy and sadness. No doubt a common enough scene of a snow storm in the mountains, but also a metaphor for the threatened loss of this precious species of Cat. It was a glorious subject, beautiful, dazzling, yet deeply moving.
TIGER IN THE SNOW
Tiger in the Snow. Oil on board. h. 30" w. 48" (h. 76.20cm w. 121.92)
Unlike with my previous Snow Leopard paintings, there is no pathos in this portrayal of an Amur Tiger. He is the King. He rules. The largest Cat on the planet at rest lordly and proud.
HUNTING TIGER
Hunting Tiger. Oil on board.h. 22.00" w. 28.00" (h. 55.88cm w. 71.12cm)
In the final sprint of a hunt, this Tiger covers the ground so gracefully, almost nimbly, and fully focused on her prey in the dapped shadows of the evening light. This was a painting that I really enjoyed making, with its sensation of speed and atmospheric flashes of light and shadow, I had a ball from start to finish.
Out of the Darkness
Out of the Darkness. Oil on board. h. 17.25" w. 20" (h43.82cm w. 50.80cm)
This was a painting of the most endangered Big Cat on the planet. Again I use the metaphor of darkness, as i did with snow in Whiteout, to depict the big Question of whether or not this beautiful leopard might disappear, in the near future, because of its severely endangered status. Will it emerge from the darkness, or will the darkness swallow it up? This is the vital question that we all have to face. So, since I immerse myself totally in these painting of Big Cats, they are sometimes so urgent and agonising to paint. How often can beauty and tragedy be part of the same work of art . . .
AMUR TIGER HEAD
This is an intense life-size study of a snarling Amur Tiger.
I feel this large, majestic male is not really angry or fearful in any way. He is confidently, even effortlessly, holding his ground as he stares at you from an uncomfortably close vantage point! He looms out of the evening like a brilliant sun. What a challenge to put over, in paint, his awesome power, size and raw energy! Again, painting on this scale filled me with his very real presence, and to paint him life size was thrilling. I have concentrated on his head – it is really a portrait – his body recedes into the falling darkness.
AMUR TIGER HEAD | Oil on board
h. 28.6" - w. 36" (h. 71cms - w. 91.5cms)
CAT PASSION
In this painting the two Tigers are engaged in fierce love-making foreplay
When two tigers engage in their mating ritual, it is a brutal business. It is hard to distinguish from a fight between two males at times. The female initiates the aggression, the male is careful and comparatively tactful. But, before the actual mating, he will overpower her and sink his teeth into her neck – this is all a necessary part of her becoming receptive to him. The foreplay is noisy and takes place at lightning speed.
CAT PASSION | Oil on board
h. 35" - w. 40"
h. 89cms - w. 101.5cms
LION
I made this painting in watercolour to start with. But I realised that, only in oils, could the full power and strength of the male Lion be expressed. The colours would need to be strong and vivid to match his majesty. So, I began again in oils with, hopefully, good results. I am quite pleased with this image of LION.
But, in some ways he speaks the same message as Apparition in the Himalayas, the Snow Leopard, who appears and disappears, like a ghost in the snow clad mountains, or ‘Out of the Darkness’, the Amur Leopard who emerges from the complete dark, but fearfully, might disappear back into it at any point. In this new painting, the Lion, also, is half in shadow. It could be the cool shadow of a tree, or, more sinisterly, it could bring to mind, metaphorically, the waiting fate for the Lion, if we don’t leap to its rescue.
Lion (Sold)
Spirit of the Himalayas - Snow Leopard h.23” w.19’ Oil on Board
Mia - Black Panther Cub h. 12” w. 12” Oil on Board
Cheetah Cub h. 12” w. 12” Oil on Board
Scottish Wildcat Oil on Board (Sold)
Instant Death - Jaguar killing Cayman h. 12.3 w. 15.75 Oil on Board
Prowling Leopard h. 13” w. 21.5” Oil on Board