I believe artists play an enormous role in driving home the message about beauty around us.  My goal is to educate the public to the greater value of wildlife and to encourage them to support those organizations that endeavor to protect all species and environment.  I paint because I want to share my enthusiasm of nature and I've learned that most people will stop and take a longer look if the artist provides some interesting facts about the subject.  I hope I can do some good by educating others about the greatest asset (wildlife) they have around them and to look and listen a little differently.

Gloria and friend at the San Diego Wild Animal Park San Diego CA

I have always been fascinated by the refined specialized qualities of all living creatures around us.  As a child I proudly brought my favorite book to school for sharing. It  was Wild Animals of the World by William Bridges and illustrated by Mary Baker.  That 1954 edition is still in my possession along with my unwavering enthusiasm for wildlife. 

While Mary Baker was my first inspiration of wildlife illustrators, I am indebted to the Beartooth School in Montana which provided some of the finest wildlife artists workshops and wildlife artist camaraderie.  

As a child in the 1950's, I watched the black and white documentaries produced by Osa and Martin Johnson.  The African landscape was in constant movement because of the huge herds of various animals moving back and forth like waves of the sea.  Today, the landscape is far different and safaris are in "protected game reserves" that struggle to protect the animals from poachers.  For a time zoos were denounced as being a cruel way for an animal to live.  But now, it appears zoos may be the only manner that one may see the animals that once ranged as far as one could see.  Remnants of the life that coexisted for thousands of years, life that took only that which was necessary for survival.

I ventured into the world of nursing and as a psychiatric nurse found that nothing had changed from studying animals and humans.  Much as mankind thinks we're different, we have the same basic behaviors as our wildlife friends. 

Having  my barn owl painting selected for the 2010 Birds in Art Show at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum is an honor and a highlight for me.

As a San Diego native, I have had many opportunities to sketch various wildlife at the world famous zoo, it  has been a treasure.  I won the Starbuck's/San Diego Zoo Art Contest  producing a flamingo tumbler and debit card that generated funds for  the Zoological Society and is today one of the most popular Starbuck's collector cards. 
 

 

 

 

 

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