June 21st is a day to celebrate the lanky, kinda goofy, and uniquely beautiful giraffe.  This is an annual event to raise support, create awareness and shed light on the challenges giraffes face in the wild. By supporting World Giraffe Day (WGD), you directly help save giraffe in Africa. With only approximately 117,000 giraffe remaining in the wild, we need to always be vigilant on increasing their numbers in the wild (source: https://giraffeconservation.org/world-giraffe-day/​)

I created this painting with a fun, carefree vibe in mind.  This is how all animals should be able to live, be free, in the wild, as they always have, without constantly battling extinction and loss of habitat.  Once we are aware of how we can help and preserve and rewild animals to their natural lands we can prevent species from becoming extinct and bring them back from being endangered.  

Some fun giraffe facts to share: 

1. They are the tallest mammals (and land animals) on the planet, just their legs along are taller than most people, averaging around 6 feet.
2. This one really surprised me!  Whenever I see a video of them running, they look a bit awkward, haha, but, they can run up to 35mph!!
3. A giraffes spots are unique to each individual, it's like a humans fingerprints, or a whales tale.  Not two animals spots art the same.
4. They never sleep for more than 30 minutes in 24 hours!  And only through several quick little naps.  Giraffes also mostly sleep standing up, they rarely ever lie down for anything, even giving birth they stand up.
5. They only need to drink every few days, they get most of their water from leaves.  When they do drink from ponds they have to spread their legs out in an awkward looking pose as their long neck still isn't long enough to reach the ground.

This painting is now being enjoyed in it's new home, a nursery for a baby born last year.  I hope it will always inspire him to love animals and be an advocate for kindness towards our fellow planet dwellers of all kinds.

A portion of the proceeds from my MAD wonderland collection sales, is donated to Re:wild (formerly know as Global Wildlife Conservation), an organization I have collaborated with, and continue to contribute to. "We believe that together, we can protect and restore those ecosystems critical to the health of our planet—from the Amazon to Australia and from Borneo to our own backyards. We are excited to embark on this journey, because we believe that, together, we can rewild our world.." (Co-founded by Leonardo Dicaprio.)

I love colorful animals, and the purple Harlequin frog just happens to display all it's fabulous glory in my favorite color!  I couldn't resist featuring this beautiful species in my newest MAD Wonderland painting "Joyous World". 
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Five Harlequin Frog Facts:

• Commonly called the Purple Fluorescent Frog, it was only discovered in 2007.
• They are found only in Costa Rica, but due to loss of habitat, and disease linked to climate change, have become critically endangered.
• They live to be around 10 years old.
• The males have no vocal sac, so they communicate to females through head and leg twitches, stomping the ground and hopping.
• They are a land frog, and only go in the water during mating season.

​Conservation efforts and constant monitoring of the species for disease, habitat protection and genetic studies have helped to keep the population stable.  

15% of the proceeds of this painting will be donated to Re:wild (formerly know as Global Wildlife Conservation), an organization I have collaborated with, and continue to contribute to. "We believe that together, we can protect and restore those ecosystems critical to the health of our planet—from the Amazon to Australia and from Borneo to our own backyards. We are excited to embark on this journey, because we believe that, together, we can rewild our world.." (Co-founded by Leonardo Dicaprio.)

As an artist I always feel the need to grow with my art and find a subject that resonates deep in my soul.  I've found this with my MAD Wonderland, artivist collection.  It's all about our natural world created through a fantasy land in my mind.  I get up every morning, excited and invigorated to start painting, I haven't felt this way in as long as I can remember.  I can always paint something, and never get artists block, but something has been missing, and I finally realized why.

I used to use my art as a means of escape, and I mean that literally.  I was in an abusive relationship for a very long time, and my art was the only place I could get away from the abuse...most of the time.  But, only because it was a source of income for the relationship and my abuser "allowed it".  So, I painted to escape and to make money, because it provided the means to be free, to just be myself and follow my passion, (and a small bit of financial security). Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the painting process, and always will no matter what, I HAVE to paint as it's a huge part of who I am as a person.  But, the "why" I painted was skewed from just the pure joy of it to having to survive.  I look back on that period of time in my life and those paintings as having saved my life in so many ways, but mostly mentally and emotionally.  Art was my escape...but now it's me, the artist, back to just painting whatever I want, for just the absolute pure joy that it gives me.  Yes, I still make a living with my art, and always will as it allows me to be able to paint, and to share my joy of art with all of you and support conservation awareness.  

It's only recently that I even admitted to myself that my art was a form of escapism for me.  Recognizing this and allowing it to rest in the past, has helped me to separate that part of my life from my current art and get back to creating for the absolute pure enjoyment of it, I feel freed from chains of the past that have always held me back, but no longer.  

I first discovered my MAD Wonderland series the end of  2018, when I created four huge paintings for a Miami Art Basel charity auction event.  My daughter had worked with the conservation company Re:wild and set it up for me to offer my art at the event, with all proceeds going to help conservation efforts around the world.  I've always loved nature and feel a close affinity to it having grown up in the wilds of Alaska, so I jumped at the opportunity to give back through my art.  I wanted to create art with a fun, uplifting vibe centered around the beauty of our natural world. Was thrilled when all four paintings sold, even had Leonardo Dicaprio bidding on my paintings!!  He is the cofounder of Re:wild and does amazing conservation work.

When I was painting these I felt so inspired and motivated to create more, and I did paint several animal/nature paintings in this style over the next couple of years; then I started to fall back into old habits of painting the art I always had.  But, I felt something was missing and looked fondly at the MAD Wonderland paintings and wanted to create more of them, but something was holding me back.  I realized it was the old chains, what was familiar, kept me rooted in place, and instead of moving forward and challenging myself as an artist, I gave in to what was quick and easy.  

Normally my abstracts and landscapes only take an hour or so to paint and I love the feeling of seeing something come to fruition so quickly and can move on to the next painting to see what I can come up with next.  The MAD Wonderland paintings however take me several days to complete because of the detail that is in them, and this was just not what I was used to and it kinda scared me, haha.  But, this year I wanted to commit myself to stepping outside of my comfort zone, so I started a blue Macaw painting in January with lots of detail, and elements I had never painted before, like the bubbles you see in the painting.  I didn't finish it until May...why, because I was still holding back, not allowing myself to just freely delve into my fantasy world of nature and animals, and who I am as an artist.  Old habits were dying hard, but then one day I made myself just start on the painting, not let fear control me any longer, and be immersed by the art, and myself as an artist...being true to who I am.  All the past hang ups and fears just melted away.  This was probably the most liberating moment for me as an artist, it opened up the flood gates to finally just feel the art on a soul level, and embrace who I truly am as an artist.  I've moved beyond a past that no longer serves me, and moving into a future of beautiful, inspiring and uplifting art that gives me purpose and dreams for a better future, for myself and this world we call home ~ through my MAD Wonderland fantasy land.

​A portion of the proceeds from my MAD wonderland collection sales, is donated to Re:wild (formerly know as Global Wildlife Conservation), an organization I have collaborated with, and continue to contribute to. "We believe that together, we can protect and restore those ecosystems critical to the health of our planet—from the Amazon to Australia and from Borneo to our own backyards. We are excited to embark on this journey, because we believe that, together, we can rewild our world.." (Co-founded by Leonardo Dicaprio.)

This art palette painting, "Florida Wild", was custom made for my daughter who lives in Florida, near me in Miami, and wanted something fun and colorful for her new apartment.  She decided on the Beautiful Florida Panther, and requested it have burning green eyes.  I was happy to oblige and create this fun, whimsical portrayal of a tropical scene with the panther front and center.  It is painted on one of my actual art palettes and coated in resin to create a beautiful shine that makes the colors really pop and come alive.  The back side of the palette has textured paint from using it to create other artworks, and also has a resin coating.  So, this two sided work of art can be displayed with the panther or the other side as a purely colorful abstract.  As a cat person this was a lot of fun to paint, and being that the Florida panther is native to Florida, where I call home, made it even more special.

The Florida panther has been on the U.S. endangered species list since 1967, but through conservation efforts since, the panther is making a strong recovery.  It is the most endangered cat in North America, and used to roam as far flung as Arkansas, but now are only found in Florida.  They are the only subspecies of mountain lions that exist in the eastern U.S. They are solitary creatures that only come together to mate, or, when raising their litter of one to three kittens.  Florida panthers live to be about 12 years old, but with such a small population their lifespan has declined due to genetic disorders, disease and car accidents.  They are actually a subspecies of mountain lions, and can be distinguished by having a slightly crooked tail and a "cowlick" of hair on their backs that doesn't conform to the rest of their coat.

There are currently around 120-130 Florida panthers left in the wild, and are mostly found in South Florida in the Everglades or Big Cypress.  Efforts to rewild the panther population came from a breeding program in 1995 that introduced eight Texas female cougars to breed with the remaining male Florida Panthers to broaden the gene pool and help prevent genetic abnormalities due to in-breeding from such a small population.  These efforts helped to more than double the current population of Florida panthers.  Without this program the panthers would likely be extinct in the wild, and shows that through conservation efforts, and thinking outside the box, species can be saved from extinction.  But, the panthers still have a long way to go before they can be safely removed from the endangered list, and efforts to protect them and their habitats will be crucial to making sure these beautiful, wild and elusive creatures survive for generations to come.

Sometimes I finish a painting and it just overwhelms me, this is one of those paintings.  It reaffirms for me that I am on the right path by following my dreams and passion for creating beautiful, uplifting art.  And that the new artwork I am creating to highlight the beauty of our natural world through my fantasy world, MAD Wonderland, is what I was meant to do.  All of my years as an artist have brought me to this time in my life for me to follow this path of this style and purpose.  It is invigorating me and making me feel right in this world, and who I am, for the first time in maybe my entire life.  I feel empowered and motivated to create more art to highlight our mother earth and the beauty and life she graces us with.

I have been seeing a lot of Toucans lately and just felt the need to paint them, they are such beautiful, unique creatures that seem to exude a fun, carefree vibe with their stunning colors and attention grabbing beak.  Let's learn a little bit about them, here are some fun Toucan facts :)

The name "Toucan" actually comes from the noises they make, they are one of the most vocal/noisiest birds in the world.  

Their beaks are made of a honeycomb of keratin that isn't durable or very useful in fighting other birds, but it comes in handy grabbing out of reach fruit, and they use the serated edge to cut open the fruit.  It's also thought that the beaks size and colorfulness is used to attract mates.  They also use it to help regulate and cool their body temperature through the honeycomb pattern to filter air as they live in hot climates.

The bill/beak does have one downfall, it makes the birds look kind of awkward when flying as the size ratio of it makes them appear unbalanced.  When you seem them flying the beak makes up nearly half the length of their body, no surprise it would weigh them down!  This is also why they spend more time hopping around then actually flying, and live in the canopies of the jungle trees, often in hollowed out parts of the tree created from former woodpecker inhabitants.

They are native to South America and the Caribbean, with over 40 species, and they can live to be 20 years old!

They range in size from less than two lbs at the heaviest to a tiny 3 ounces, and are very sociable birds living with flocks from around 3-12 birds.  They are a vital part of the rainforest ecosystem carrying seeds through their droppings creating a diverse array of plants throughout the forest.

A portion of the proceeds from my MAD wonderland collection sales, is donated to Re:wild (formerly know as Global Wildlife Conservation), an organization I have collaborated with, and continue to contribute to. "We believe that together, we can protect and restore those ecosystems critical to the health of our planet—from the Amazon to Australia and from Borneo to our own backyards. We are excited to embark on this journey, because we believe that, together, we can rewild our world.." (Co-founded by Leonardo Dicaprio.)

The original 19"x24" painting, created with acrylics on recycled bristol paper is available HERE.