Animal Ark is a sanctuary just outside of Reno NV ( www.animalark.org) In the setting of the pristine high desert, a home for animals that cannot be returned to the wild exists due to the vision of the founders Aaron and Diana Hibble. I met them when I sent a painting to DeWildt Cheetah and Wildlife Sanctuary in So. Africa. Aaron and his friend( who took my painting with him) went to help build and upgrade homes for some of the staff of Dewildt in Africa, Animal Ark has several cheetah from there.
Love Bite, study of Khan pastel
I was graciously given a tour even though they are closed Oct to April and met Khan, their resident white tiger. Because there is a very large tiger playard, and the playards at Anima Ark are designed with an enclosed viewing platform with glass, you can see the animals in a more natural state, they may glance at you but then go about being who they are, not like a zoo at all. What a thrill! Khan inspired several works here they are. Guardian of the Ark and Khan in Dark Waters are avialable as giclee prints. A large portion of the prints goes to Animal Ark. I am doing original art of all the animals there to help raise funds for the 503c non profit. Many of the originals are avialble as well. Although Guardian of the Ark is sold. If you look closely at Love bite, you'll notice that a piece of ear is missing, that's thanks to Taja, who Khan just fell for when he came, but she wanted nothing at all to do with him, and the "love bite" happened by the fence one day...a sort of a doomed romance.
Khan in Dark Waters pastel 11x14, original available
1 comments:
Thanks for writing this.
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