A E London Journal

Our second" bucket list "adventure -Tanzania and the great Wildebeest/Zebra Migration

Each year almost one million Wildebeest and Zebra follow the rains across the Serengeti plains in Kenya and Tanzania
The wildlife on the Serengeti birth their young in January and February right after the rains turn hundreds of square miles green with new grass.They then follow the rains south and then back north for a constant supply of grass for their young .It's an annual circuit called the "Great Migration Route", and each year ,it's most dramatic moment is the crossing of the Mara river with it's huge,hungry crocodiles. It's been several years since we visited the Serengeti and we had forgotten it's vastness and it's beauty. Very different from Southern Africa ,our usual "haunt".

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Gorillas in the mist!

We journeyed into the misty,highly cultivated hills of Rwanda to Volcanos National Park, home of the endangered Mountain Gorillas. Rwanda is a beautiful country of rolling hills and steep volcanic valleys. Our treks into the mountain forests were pretty intense but the cool temperatures helped .Once we found the gorillas it was truly magical as we watched them ,eat, rest, and play together from just a few feet away. Absolutely awesome and in the top five moments of our entire lives!!

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Gorillas,the great migration and teaching conservation,2017

Our African journey this year takes us to Rwanda to visit our friends with the Gorilla Doctors and trek into the bamboo forests to draw Gorillas. Then to the Serengeti plains in Tanzania to ,hopefully, watch thousands of zebra and wildebeest crossing the Mara river during their annual migration. Then ,after two weeks in central Africa, finally back to our Wildlife Arts Center in Zimbabwe to bring educational supplies and teach kids the importance of their wildlife. First, we flew into Rwanda's Capital,Kigali and then the 3 hour drive to Volcanos National park.

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Summer Adventures 2017

This has been a very busy ,but quite successful summer. We made many new friends and had some really incredible wildlife encounters, thanks to our new friends at Earthfire Institute.
In October,we are invited to exhibit work in London and Paris ( at the Louvre' no less!) and also pledged to help conservation exhibitions in Namibia and South Africa . This on top of our shows and exhibit schedule across the United States.
Of course , all this comes the same month we had planned (for two years) to be in Rwanda and Tanzania .So, it has been a summer packed with signing contracts, shipping art all over the planet,and making exhibition arrangements ,etc.,etc.,..... This was hard since we were only home 2 weeks the entire summer! We managed to "sneak in" some great hiking and wildlife adventures and supported a dear friend who is battling cancer in Los Angles.
We are ready to relax ( and actually looking forward to it) on the 15 hour flight to Africa!

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Arts for Animals in Action

We just got a lovely email from one of the folks we work with in Africa. One of our partners there is" Children in the Wilderness', a community involvement arm of Wilderness Safaris whom we have been working with for years( more information on Children in the Wilderness is on our website www.artsforanimals.com) Each year, they close their wilderness camps to clients and open them to children from local communities who are members of their eco-Rangers program.
These kids get to spend the week observing wildlife, studying wildlife biology, playing games and learning about the importance of their wildlife to their own future. Our program,Arts for Animals provides lesson plans, drawing kits and posters for the kids to develop their artistic skills and connect creativity with conservation. Through our "Wildlife Protector" program, the children make a pledge to protect their wildlife and get a signed contract and glow-in-the-dark wristband signify their participation as a "Wildlife Protector".
Here are some of the photographs they sent us showing the kids with their signed contracts and proudly displaying their wristbands which say," I protect Animals - Our wildlife- My heritage- My future "

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Coconut Grove 2017

Our first show this year was Coconut Grove, in Miami. This is one of " best shows" in the nation with well over 3000 applications from artists to fill 350 spots at the show. Usually we do the coconut Grove show, and then follow that up with the Naples international show the following week. However, this year the Naples show apparently missed their permit application date and had to hold their show the same weekend as Coconut Grove. Although many of our friends made the drive over from Naples to Miami, we still missed many of our friends from Naples.
We always enjoy seeing all our old friends in the Miami area and we often make new friends from all over the world at the show. For example, last year we sold several pieces to a lovely couple to furnish their new home in Switzerland.
Visit started with a wonderful dinner with Ron McGill of the Miami zoo and his beautiful wife,Rita.Besides being one of the most knowledgable and successful conservationists on the planet, Ron has been both an inspiration and mentor helping us manage Arts For Animals.They took us to an incredible steakhouse where we had a Brontosaurus sized Ribeye .( the "leftovers" of which we ate for dinner the following 3 nights). It was delicious and we always really enjoy seeing Ron and Rita and trading travel and animal stories.
Another one of the high points for us this year was getting to know our hosts at the air B&B we stayed in. Phil and Suzy Stapelton. Both Phil and Susie are artists and have created a lovely retreat only a few blocks from the show near the Coconut Grove waterfront.We used our new bikes and rode to and from the show each day.Each night we sat outside under the stars and flowering bougainvillea and traded stories with Phil,Suzy and their interesting neighbors.
It was an interesting coincidence that author,Larry Kritcher, lives across the street.Larry was an airline pilot between 1950 and 1980 and used his airline privileges to visit every corner of the world. He wrote of his adventures with his wife Rita and is working on his second book. The real coincidence is that Rita told us that it was a conversation they had with us 2 years before,at the 2015 Coconut Grove festival , that encouraged them to visit Namibia last year and Larry had included us in the first chapter of his latest book chronicling that trip!
Ya never know who you'll meet at art shows!


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For me this Christmas was a time for Recuperation

Unfortunately ,I was rear ended in an auto accident last June and have been suffering the after effects for several months. Without going into the gory details, I had to have neck surgery in early December. As you might expect the hardest part of recuperation was being still. Just not in my nature I guess. The good news is that the surgery was a success and I am slowly getting back into the studio to do what I love most.
I did manage a trip into town with my friends Glen and Laura and Jim to view one of the coolest night parades of Mardi Gras. It was the all-female KREWE OF MUSES and it was really a hoot.

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OUR AFRICAN ADVENTURE 2016

Our annual African safaris are always a great adventure. Just like the early African explorers, we never know what wildlife dramas will unfold before us. Of course, part of our adventure is sharing Africa with our friends and this year we had some wonderful friends along. We had some amazing experiences together, shared a lot of laughs, and became even better friends than when we started.

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