| Graham Turner writes:"Animals have always been part of my life, growing up with the family cats, keeping goats and sheep as a teenager, through to the dog and horse members of my family now, and I have always loved painting them and tried to capture something of their essence and character in my work. Whether it be a knight on his spirited stallion, or the relationship forged between man and horse experiencing the horrors of the Western Front, conveying the life force of horses and other animals that are a part of our lives is something I strive to achieve. Pictured right - 'Anticipation' and 'Steady Boy' |  |
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 | Over the years I have also painted portraits of a few beloved pets, mostly our own or those of friends and family. When I first started out all those years ago, I was tempted to try wildlife painting, before I found my niche in other fields. I did paint a tiger for Anita's 21st, just before we were married - she has a thing about tigers! - but have probably only painted a handful of other wildlife scenes through my career.However, earlier this year we found ourselves on an incredible adventure, spending two weeks volunteering at the N/a’an ku sê wildlife sanctuary in Namibia, followed by a five-day safari in the Etosha National Park. Having that hands-on experience was amazing, something I will treasure for the rest of my life. Working to help safeguard animals such as cheetahs, becoming part of a troop of baboons, riding horses amidst herds of giraffe and zebra - totally inspirational!The safari allowed me to see wild animals in the huge expanses of the Etosha National Park - within half an hour of entering the park we came across a herd of elephants, and when this herd headed to a nearby waterhole they were joined by several other herds, until we had over thirty elephants, of all sizes, in front of us! Plus the zebra, springbok etc. Over the five days we saw so much, different habitats, sunrises, and the wildlife! Lions, giraffes, rhinoceros, cheetahs, wildebeest... the list is endless. |
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| Inevitably, this experience hit all the inspirational buttons, and I found my artistic mind filled with countless ideas for paintings, all bouncing round my head demanding to be committed to canvas. So, having insisted before we embarked on this trip that it wasn't going to herald a change of career direction, since we returned home I just had to find time in my schedule to paint something of what I saw and experienced. This now amounts to four paintings: an impressive male lion we saw in the late afternoon on our first day in Etosha; a massive elephant who had plastered himself with the light grey earth of this area, giving the appearance that he was whitewashed - a real white elephant; Cheetahs at N/a’an ku sê, and Alfie, one of the rescued orphan baboons we got to know.With the lion painting I wanted to get in close and capture his character - his beautiful flowing mane, the scars on his nose indicating past battles - while I have tried to convey something of the vastness of the country with the elephant painting, as he snoozes in the heat of the day, not really troubled by much, amongst the thorns and with the hazy mountain range far away in the distance. Details of these, and the other two paintings of Alfie and the cheetahs, can be seen by following the link below.CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGES FOR FULL DETAILS OF ALL FOUR OF THESE ORIGINAL PAINTINGS |  |
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