This is a self-portrait of the artist at 18! Home life was hard so the week after high  school graduation I bought a car, got a driver’s license, bought a puppy and moved in to my own apartment.  It was one full week!

Take a sneak peek at what I’m working on now.  The entire painting will be revealed soon!

This is Marilyn nuzzling newborn daughter Akili at the Memphis Zoo, moments after birth. Did you know that the birth of a giraffe includes an 18′ drop to the earth for baby? Hello! Then just after the baby stands up the mother does the most unimaginable thing. She kicks her baby tumbling! And after baby manages to struggle to her feet mom does it again! You might wonder why the cruelty but actually she wants baby to remember how she got up. You see in the wild mom needs the protection of the heard and her young must be able to keep up. Maybe this hug came after boot camp (hows that for a pun!).

This beautiful family of lions actually came from the zoo! No matter where they live, these marvelous creatures are regal and majestic and among my favorites in the animal kingdom.

Trimmed down a bit. He seemed lost in the foliage so I cropped it tighter to allow the subject to stand out.  It’s always a little painful to cut away some of the painting that I worked so hard on and it looked pretty. Ugh