‘Do not paint it unless you have studied it, been chased by it or done something to save it.’ Says Andrew Bone a world famous wildlife artist who lives in Hilton. Andrew advocates that the emotional connection and knowledge of the subject an artist recreates is absolutely important to create visually believable work.
Thirteen years ago he moved with his wife Kelly and three daughters, Courtney, Jenna and Stacey to SA from Zimbabwe, during the last three they have enjoyed the peace and quiet of life in Hilton.
Going further back Andrew explained that after the Rhodesian bush war he floated from job to job, these distractions included working as a Zambezi River guide. He met Kelly while working at Mana pools, they married and in time as they thought ahead to raising a family he decided to accept a job in a Private Game Reserve where he gained an understanding of animal anatomy. With long evenings to fill and no TV, Andrew took to painting and sketching. While he was away on a 10 day survival course, a visiting cousin took his paintings and sold them for a surprisingly good amount of money. This encouraged Andrew to paint more and 22 years ago he took his art to shows in US where he was discovered by Park West Gallery of Miami.
Today all his originals go to the USA and Park West Gallery sell everything he does to serious wildlife art collectors. In addition they make prints and auction his art on luxury liners such as the Sea Princess and the Oasis of the Seas.
Andrew’s art is sold daily on auction on 106 ships and from time to time he has to attend on board shows. On these occasions he will sign prints.
Andrew has a book coming out this month called Brushstrokes of Africa which tells more about his early guiding experiences and also contains about 350 odd pieces of art. This publications is aimed at collectors and is being printed in in Korea.
This is an awesome journey for someone who claims he is not a natural artist, but agrees he has an eye for colour and balance and draws on his interaction with his experiences; such as being charged by elephants.
Andrew Bone is outspoken against trophy and safari hunting, especially canned lion hunting. His involvement with the Mkuze wild dog program and the Wildlife Act Fund inspired him to get involved in developing The Forever Wild Foundation.
Andrew says, ‘The Foundations next project is to assist in the collaring and research of the cheetah in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi. Regarded as one of the most sustainable cheetah populations in South Africa, there has been little or no research done on them and their long term safety within the park. Recently the Foundation was able to assist with transformer relay stations within the park to help in gathering information from all species carrying monitoring collars simultaneously.’
Andrew has published a Wildlife Calendar which can be purchased at Hilton’s POSH Market 16 December 2015 to raise funds for The Forever Wild Foundation.