“Remnants” Collection

Until the mid-1900's in the United States, it was common practice to systematically eradicate carnivores from any land that humans were using.  Americans generally believed that carnivores would indiscriminately kill them, their livestock, and the other prey species that people depended on for food.  In the early American psyche, large predators were dangerous, evil death machines.

These predator species were often killed in exceptionally cruel and gruesome ways, and there are documented instances of people torturing animals before killing them.  It is quite horrifying to consider, and this collection of work is a tribute to the millions of animals that were exterminated.

Although these works may feel melancholy in nature, they are also meant to instill hope.  Despite humanity’s best attempts to extinguish them, these carnivore species have managed to carry on, and in some areas, have even thrived.

In more recent times, scientists and naturalists have shown the importance carnivores have to the health and balance of the ecosystems they call home.  Predator species are rebounding in some of their historic range and there are new generations of nature lovers that are helping humanity find ways to coexist with large carnivores.  I hope that conservation efforts and education continue to create more optimistic prospects for these species' future. 

This collection of colored pencil and acrylic drawings each depict a North American carnivore species: the gray wolf, coyote, polar bear, grizzly bear, mountain lion, and American black bear. Each drawing measures 7” x 5”.