Asia - Rural

This page of the Asian part of my portfolio reflects just a fraction of the exotic, exciting animals that I've been lucky enough to see on my visits. To date I've travelled twice to India and more recently Sri Lanka . Each trip was different and always an adventure. Most of the wildlife in Asia is endangered but the majority is never painted. It seems sad that much of wildlife art in shows and exhibitions features endless portraits of tigers, but never the other equally endangered wildlife. It was for this reason that Asia initially attracted me and further visits are definitely on the agenda.

Please be patient whilst the paintings are being downloaded

Bonnet Macaques & Prayer Flags This painting shows part of a troupe of ever present temple monkeys you will find in most Asian temples. It pretty accurately reflects a typical day. The youngster at the bottom is eating a slice of melon and his cheek bulges with the hastily eaten fruit. A female grooms the dominant male, who in turn stares up towards the fluttering prayer flags. I've tried to suggest some sense of shared spirituality in this pose, hopefully the viewer will pause to reflect on just what that male is looking at or thinking.

Monitor Lizard This Indian monitor lizard, which must have been around 4 ft long, was actually seen in the rubbish and debris of a dusty northern Indian town. It was being pursued by a pack of feral dogs whose excited barking woke me from a hot midday sleep. Typically the monitor was completely oblivious to the small dogs. I was tempted to paint the scene faithfully and include the rubbish, but thought the monitor lizard alone was pretty un-commercial. I shouldn't have worried, the painting sold at the first exhibition I put it into!

Reclining Tigress Oil on Canvas 49 x 30" For Sale A Tigers Tale In 2003 I was exhibiting work at the Wildlife Art Society's annual exhibition, staged at Bristol Zoo, when one night works by several artists, including 'Reclining Tigress', were stolen. Mysteriously, there was no useful CCTV footage, no sign of forced entry on the premises and no clues as to what had become of the missing artworks. The trail appeared to go cold until October 2007 when an investigation into a house in Melksham (which had been inhabited by a convicted drug dealer) revealed a large object wrapped in a blanket under the stairs. The police investigations are now complete and I have at last been re-united with my work.

"Takin" Oil on Canvas 15 x 10" Sold

"Sunspot, Bleeding heart Dove" Oil on Canvas 9.5 x 11.5" Sold

Indian Monitor Oil on Canvas 15 x 24" Sold

Bonnet Macaques & Prayer Flags Oil on Canvas 31.5 x 17.25" Sold