Maya and the C.A.R.E. Foundation
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| " When the last individual of a race of living things
breathes no more, another Heaven and another Earth must pass before such
a one can be again. "
- William Beebe, American Naturalist Maya is a South American Jaguar. She was born on October 10, 1993, and has been a resident at the C.A.R.E. Foundation since its inception and is indeed symbolic of the reasons for the formation of this organization. The best way to learn more about the C.A.R.E Foundation is to visit there and meet its inhabitant's; Maya the Jaguar, Bahl-Shoy the Siberian Tiger, and Kesha & Tecumseh the Florida Panthers, as well as all the other exotic animals that have come to reside there because they needed shelter due to circumstance beyond their control or making. I have been fortunate to have met all these "individuals" and thus have been inspired by them, and by the efforts of C.A.R.E.'s founder, Christin Burford, who takes her inspiration from these "individuals" and gives something back to them all by way of working to insure the survival of these last representatives of a once better Earth. She fosters their care and also with their help, promotes environmental awareness and education about their plight and what we can do about it. |
Maya as a cub
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| About Jaguars ( Panthera onca
)
The Jaguar is the largest of the cats found in the Western Hemisphere and. along with the tiger, the lion, and the leopard, it is one of the four roaring or "great " cats. On the average, the Jaguar is the third largest of the thirty-seven cats, exceeded in size only by the tiger and the lion, but as with its close relative the leopard, it shows enormous variation in size throughout its range. Maximum size is three hundred to 350 pounds (135 - 158kg), and minimum size is one hundred to 125 pounds (45 - 56kg), with females on average running 20 percent smaller. The Jaguar's length is six to nine feet (1.8 - 2.7m), which includes a tail of twenty-seven inches (67.5cm). The tail is shorter than the somewhat smaller, but more agile puma of the Western Hemisphere. This compact, heavily muscled animal exudes a solid power, unlike the more lithe, supple grace of most of the other big cats. It is believed there are fewer than 1000 of these "individuals" left in the wild today... |
Maya present day |
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Organizations I support:
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Subira the Cheetah at the Shambala Preserve Photo courtesy of Shambala Photographer - Bill Dow |
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Inspirations from Jaguars The "Voice of Thunder" shown is this demonstration is unique in that it is literally an 'authorized' portrait signed by Maya herself with an actual size paw print provided by Maya. This 'signature' is accomplished by acquiring an imprint of her paw on a piece of paper ( a process that in no way is harmful to her) and then a stencil is cut based on a tracing of this imprint, thus allowing her 'signature' to be added to each portrait. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each such portrait goes to the C.A.R.E. Foundation. A similar portrait of Bahl-Shoy is also available, as well as one of Tecumseh.
The piece shown in this demonstration and the piece depicted above are variations on a theme inspired by a Tucano Amazon Indian myth and my personal exposure to one particular individual Jaguar - Maya. When you 'meet' a Jaguar you can sense the power and the magic and it is easy to understand why they influenced the various South and Central American civilizations for so many centuries. Both works; "The Gift of Power" (shown above) and the "Voice of Thunder" (shown in this demonstration) were inspired and created by photo references from the C.A.R.E. Foundation.
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What can I do..? Every airbrush artist at some point in their career has done at least one wildlife art piece - it's almost a requirement! Whether as a part of an instructional 'how-to' effort (now where have I seen one of these..?) or as a regular part of their inventory to supply the public's growing demand, we all owe at least some small debt to these animals we draw our inspirations from. There are literally thousands of organizations all across the United States, much less the World that are dedicated to preserving the growing number of endangered species in the world today - each and every one of these efforts can benefit from your support as most are nonprofit organizations that are entirely dependent upon donations for their continuance. You can help these organizations by donating artwork to them and in turn benefit yourself because you are making your presence known to what can potentially become your 'target market' if you are a wildlife Artist or wish to be one... The organization benefits from the sale and/or auction of such works, plus the more striking the work, the greater the attention you draw to their particular cause, and you benefit from the publicity, which in turn allows one to continue to contribute - a truly win/win scenario! Most important it benefits the wildlife, and it is so very little for us to give back to these animals who have influenced in some way literally every individual on this Earth in some fashion for thousands of years, that it is the very least we can do... " For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life." - William Blake
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