I'm All Ears

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

~Jane Goodall~

I'm All Ears   (c)2017   10x13.5   Sold

We immediately met this giant fellow when we arrived at the "Elephant Bedroom Camp," which is located on the banks of the Ewaso Ng'iro river in Samburu Kenya.  They loved our president at that time, so they named this resident elephant Obama! To the dismay of the establishment, guards and workers we got a little too close for their comfort, so they had to frantically wave fallen palm fronds to keep him back while we snapped a few photos then retreated to the safety of the lodge.

Once common throughout Africa, elephants have been severely depleted due largely to the massive ivory trade as well as habitat destruction. To help, you can contact your local representatives and express your support of the international ban on ivory trading. 

4 star guide

This warbler is the perfect guide to lead this herd of elephants to the Ewaso Nyiro River in Samburu!!

Tour Guide  Kathryn Hansen  (c)2015 8x10

And these were our awesome guides while in Kenya!

 My sister and I were resting on the deck of our luxurious tented cabin on stilts in between safari outings when I spotted this herd!! Some of these elephants just wandered through the camp at night, a few even trapped my other sister in her tent until the guards were able to shoo them away! 

It was another amazing experience in a long list of unbelievable surprises and adventures!!!

Trodden Path

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

~William Shakespeare~

Trodden Path    Kathryn Hansen   (c) 29014  9x14

Trodden Path wasn't an easy piece to draw, there were lots of challenges in it for me as I was trying to get it done quickly (because it's a commission) which just added to my frustration. A woman named Mary M, from my FB business page told me to just slow down, so I did, and I actually enjoyed the next few challenges I faced with it...so many thanks to Mary...sometimes stating the obvious to me really works!!

Set a spell, take your shoes off

and meet the Clampetts and their feathered friends!!

My newest drawing in progress. 

I've been wanting to draw this trio for some time now, basically since I got back from Kenya 4 years ago, so I guess it's finally their time! I changed things up a bit, added a few oxpeckers and egrets to the scene for interest. 

As some of you may know I was fascinated by all the birds perched on the mammals there, so I tend to always add them to my work.

Oxpeckers can be invasive birds to elephants, but they also reduce the amount of lice, ticks, and other parasites living on elephants' skin and hair. Egrets also eat parasites on the elephants backs but mostly they eat insects that are stirred up from the dust and grass as elephants stroll thru the towering grasses. 

I am hoping to get through all the wrinkles, folds and grasses in this piece in a timely manner...elephants always seem to take me a bit longer to draw...shooting for the end of this week! 

So y'all come back now, y'hear!

Why are elephants so wrinkled?

This dynamic duo are up next on my drawing board. 

After combing through hundreds and hundreds of photos from my Africa trip, I mashed these two elephants together. Lorelai, the mom is actually from Amboseli National Park and her baby Rory is from Samburu but in my small drawing they have always been mom and baby! 

Not sure if I will add any birds to this one as I want the emphasis to be on Rory's turned head, looking back at the viewer. 

I am hoping to have it done in time for the TAG Gallery Open California Exhibit in August, which means it needs to be completed by mid June. Not sure if I will be able to make it but I am going to give it my best shot!

(They take too long to iron!)

a gif of obama

my youngest daughter and i traded services...she made this "gif" of obama for me and i made her pasta. she finished way before me!!

have a fabulously fun weekend!!

the start of a brand new year!

as i dropped my daughter off at school this morning i took a deep breathe and thought, phew...back to some normalcy and routine again...yay! 

not that we didn't have an amazing holiday, we really did! just after what seemed like endless weeks of celebrating, routine is what i was beginning to crave.(not carbs and sweets any longer!)

so my first drawing of the year is Obama...the elephant! 

 we immediately met this giant fellow (they LOVE our president over there, so named this local resident after him.) when we arrived at the "elephant bedroom camp," which is located on the banks of the Ewaso Ng'iro river in Samburu Kenya. you can see we got super close to him, to the dismay of the establishment...the guards and workers where frantically waving fallen palm fronds to keep him back while we took photos, but then we had to move it up to the lodge away from the river.

 Obama (i don't know why i love saying that, but i do!) took a long time to draw out...his trunk was challenging to get right...but now it should be easy going...except that ear...i can see that will be challenging as well!! stayed tuned!

i equate what happened last friday in connecticut to 9/11...emotionally that is. it's been hard not to get caught up in all the different aspects of this inconceivable situation...it really is just heartbreaking. my girls have been getting lots of hugs from me lately as i am sooo grateful i've never had to personally deal with losing a child.

that's why i have been pretty quiet here, but mostly quiet on facebook. sometimes it's just hard to get back into the swing of daily life after such a tragedy.

i am just going to share two completed drawings here that i finished a few weeks ago and then i am going to remain silent until after christmas...maybe by then i will feel ready to jump back into things. right now it's just time for me to be with my girls and family, to quietly grieve, meditate, send energy and pray for peace in our world.