My new blog has just been launched ! Check it out here!

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"Jitterbugging the Rideau" was recently featured on the "Art of Angling " page in the Winter 2009 issue of
Bob Izumi's Real Fishing magazine. Check it out at your favourite magazine or fishing store or on line at www.realfishing.com .

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First place in this juried competition for the "Call of the Wild" exhibition to be held at the Ciao Gallery in Wilson, Wyoming in the Jackson Hole district.

The art that will be on exhibition at the Ciao Gallery in Wilson, Wyoming will be:

Resting Post - Original
Boreal Hawk Owl - Original

Wait for me! - Giclee print
Jitterbugging the Rideau - Gilcee print

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The Art of Conservation 2008 Opening Weekend - September 26-28

The opening reception weekend of the AFC’s inaugural annual juried exhibition – “The Art of Conservation” was a resounding success and is making waves in the nature art community. The weekend event spanned 3 days (September 26-28) and involved two field trips, a lecture evening, dinner & awards evening, group photo session and opening cocktail reception afternoon. The event broke previous attendance records for the Blauvelt Museum. Well over 50 AFC members attended a range of weekend activities and field trips.

The general response has one of great excitement and enormous positivity. Several artists travelled great distances to participate in what was clearly a milestone event in the international nature and wildlife art community.

Noteworthy artists who attended from overseas included Lorna Hamilton, whose painting “On the Edge” graces the cover of the show companion book; Pollyanna Pickering from the UK; Setsuo Hamanaka and Eriko Kobayashi from Japan; Lyn Ellison and Ji Qiu from Australia; Oscar Famili from Tehran, Iran and over 30 more exhibiting artists from across North America. In addition, we were pleased to welcome several more AFC members, who attended as non-exhibitors.

Volunteer photographer and AFC exhibiting artist, Charles Alexander, worked feverishly throughout the entire event. In addition, documentary wildlife and art filmmaker, Norm Lightfoot, volunteered his time to capture highlights of all weekend activities on video. We intend to stream clips and post a large slideshow of the event as soon as possible

Following are some highlights of the weekend:

FIELD TRIP TO THE BRONX ZOO (DAY 1)
On the first day of the three-day weekend event, approximately 60 AFC members and their guests rendezvoused at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton. From there, attendees were shuttled in a convoy of three buses to the world-renowned Zoo and headquarters of the show’s beneficiary conservation organization – the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Attendees were treated to a special guided tour of main Zoo attractions, including the brand new highly anticipated Madagascar exhibit. The day was punctuated by a buffet lunch (courtesy of WCS) in which WCS senior management and key staff mingled with the artists to share more about the organization and the important conservation and research work they do around the globe. Attendees were then left the remainder of the afternoon to peruse the Zoo grounds at their leisure. The day started off rainy, but traffic was better than anticipated and we arrived a good 25 minutes before the Zoo gates were open. Although this made for a damp start, WCS received us at their Southern Boulevard entrance with a special tent where they distributed personalized name tags, courtesy entrance tickets and ponchos for those without raincoats or umbrellas. Fortunately, by late morning, the rain subsided and we were able to walk freely around the grounds. The day was a wonderful start to a jam-packed weekend.

FRIDAY LECTURE EVENING & DESSERT BUFFET (DAY 1)
In what was the first official AFC members’ meeting, the evening kicked off with a special show preview and dessert buffet for AFC members, hosted by the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum.

As attendees arrived, they were greeted not only by the beautiful historic building, but also by an eye-catching and larger-than-life sign mounted above the Museum entrance. In addition a 2.5 meter (7.5 foot) AFC flag flew from a flagpole at the entrance.

Shortly after 7pm, the largest gallery room in the museum was filled wall-to-wall with 84 guests, to hear 5 lectures. AFC President, Jeff Whiting welcomed attendees and gave a introductory talk about the AFC’s beginnings through to the launch of the first show and book. Jeff also informed attendees of the AFC’s current programs, the leadership role that the AFC plays in bringing the arts and conservation communities together and his future vision for the AFC.

Four lectures followed, including one from Kat Combes, widow of late AFC member and renowned artist/conservationist, Simon Combes. Kat flew to the event from her home near Lake Nakuru in Kenya’s Rift Valley, to participate in the awards ceremony and to share latest developments in the important local conservation work she continues to pursue in Simon’s memory.

The crowd was then treated to three very different and equally fascinating talks by AFC members: David Kitler, Pollyanna Pickering and Alison Nicholls. was All were extraordinary speakers and shared their unique experiences from around the globe under the AFC’s Flag Expeditions program through slideshow presentations. David spoke of his and his wife Ly’s experiences with the endangered Harpy Eagle in the remote jungles of Panama. Pollyanna shared some fascinating and often humorous stories of her and her daughter Anna-Louise’s travels through the remote, Yeti-inhabited, forests and mountains of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Finally, Alison shared her experiences on her Flag Expedition to Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe to study the highly endangered Painted Dogs. Adding drama and education to her talk, Alison enlightened the audience by demonstrating the threats and horrific realities of poaching with a genuine snare, disabled and brought back from her trip.

FIELD TRIP TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (DAY 2)
Saturday was to be the “Big” day, and started with our second field trip, this to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. Steve Quinn, AFC artist member, Senior Exhibitions Manager at the AMNH and world authority on museum dioramas, provided courtesy passes for over 60 attendees to what became a true highlight of the entire weekend. Steve wowed the group with a truly extraordinary and highly educational day, starting with a fascinating lecture about the history of dioramas and the combining of art and science in the creation of exhibits. Steve then walked us through the famous Akeley Hall of Mammals and introduced us to the intense detail and background work involved in the creation of each dramatic diorama. In what was a true bonus, Steve gave us a behind-the-scenes look at exhibitions department studios. Finally, artists were then left to explore for the remainder of the day, with special passes for the whole group to visit the temporary Horses exhibit, which Steve himself helped create – involving a 42-foot mural painting and diorama backdrop.

VIP DINNER & AWARDS EVENING (DAY 2)
Saturday evening was the night for which many artists travelled great distances. 135 guests (including artists) were present for the evening celebration, exceeding any previous dinner attendance at the Museum. To accommodate the number a new sound system installed. The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum hosted a top-notch VIP cocktail reception, three course dinner and awards ceremony for exhibiting artists, special patron guests, and WCS, Museum and AFC representatives. Guests were welcomed by the Museum’s Executive Director, Marijane Singer. AFC President, Jeff Whiting, as Master of Ceremonies, echoed the welcome and spoke in brief about the show, the “triangular” partnership in the creation of the show as well as the AFC and its programs, beginning with a special unscheduled “thank you” presentation of copies of the show companion book in custom handmade display cases bearing the AFC butterfly insignia to the Blauvelt Museum and WCS.

Chairman of the Blauvelt Art Museum, James Bellis Sr., spoke briefly about the Museum and presented the Blauvelt purchase award to Dale Weiler for his marble sculpture of a Polar Bear, titled “Nowhere To Go”.

Next, five AFC artists were presented with the very first set of AFC “Medals of Excellence”, for their artworks in the show – the show jury reconvened at the Museum in late August to select the 5 awards. The five award-winners, in alphabetical order were Eric Berg for his life-sized sculpture titled “Japanese Giant Salamander”, Derek Bond for his egg tempera painting titled “Little Snowy Plover”, Jay Johnson for his oil painting titled “Sun Glows on the Land”, Alison Nicholls for her watercolor titled “Sable Drinking”, and Linda Rossin for her acrylic painting “Silhouettes Along the Shore”. Each award recipient of the Medal of Excellence received a pewter medal, mounted in a custom velvet-backed wood and Lucite frame displaying a silver plate bearing a description of the award and the name of the recipient. Accompanying each award was a special award certificate, with border specially designed by AFC artist Aleta Karstad.

The final award of the evening was the Simon Combes Conservation Award – the AFC’s top honor – given to an artist member who has shown extraordinary support for the conservation cause through his or her art. This year’s recipient was world-renowned artist Robert Bateman of Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada. Mr. Bateman, accompanied by his wife, Birgit, was presented with a certificate and a special bronze sculpture trophy, designed by AFC artist Peter Gray of South Africa.

Mr. Bateman addressed the audience with an inspirational speech about a societal role in conservation.

Mr. Bateman took the opportunity to reflect on what he termed his two major activities these days – “painting and ranting”. Well, his ranting was in fact an impassioned plea that society “pay attention” and “be prepared to pay a little more to save paying a lot more later”. Like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand (they do not really put their head in the sand) people are not being informed. Scientists are being muzzled by politicians and interest groups, while nature pays the price. What is particularly alarming to him is that journalists are not taking these people to task for hiding the bad news. He referred to his painting called “Drift Net” as one of his most important paintings as it attempted to draw attention to the horrific slaughter of fish, birds and mammals by the fishing methods of today even though there are better alternatives. Mr. Bateman concluded his talk by emphasizing there is no free lunch for society and it is certainly worth paying a bit more now to save nature than to pay a much higher price later. His entire address will be posted as a video shortly.

ARTIST GROUP PHOTO (DAY 3)
Day three was more relaxed in pace and involved a special outdoor group photo shoot by the AFC flag of attending AFC members. Fortunately, the weather improved enough to allow the session to occur out-of-doors. It was a sight to behold such attendance at the organization’s very first event of its kind.

OPENING RECEPTION (DAY 3)
At 2pm, the Museum doors officially opened to what may have approached 400 guests over the afternoon, which also broke attendance records for an opening reception at the Museum. Artists mingled with collectors and patrons and with each other, and numerous artworks were sold, ensuring that funds would be raised for conservation – the true acid test of the weekend’s success.