Now before I spark a debate about the cruelty of zoos and animal rides, all I can say is I was a five year old who wanted to ride an elephant, a once in a lifetime experience. Now with Mali, the poor, lonely elephant in the Manila Zoo who lives in solitude in a concrete jungle, I can hardly approve of such a life for an elephant. Perhaps Disney World has changed the ride. Perhaps Peggy had friends who she hung out with. Perhaps she had elephant friends who also had adults and children riding upon them so she would not bear the burden for so many hours. I don't know. I was too young to ask such questions.
I'm not a member of PETA and I'm not a Vegetarian (or vegan). I probably would be Vegan if I didn't like the taste of meat so much. I know the animals are treated horrifically, but I can't get my husband to buy into a meat free diet, and I'm afraid I can't either. Maybe that makes me a bad person. I don't know.
Anyway, about my painting. I did the sky, the grass, and the elephant. I have so much to add. The stand, the palm trees, me! Right now it doesn't look like much, but it will be a typical JStorer painting. I wanted to paint the elephant photo because I've been so horrifically angry at poachers in Africa who have hunted the elephant to near extinction. Ricky Gervais posts picture onto his Facebook and Twitter pages of hunters and poachers standing next to dead animals that they've mercilessly killed, sometimes with the orphan still there with it's dead mother. One of these photos made it into the news. Perhaps you've heard of the news story?
I realize that it's kind of contradictory for me to paint an elephant in captivity when I'm so outraged about Mali and the Afircan Elephants, but elephants are on my mind.
Here's a shot of my work thus far.
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