Wolf paintings

Here are the final paintings and prints from my project with the Wolf Conservation Center!

These packs of cards were really well-received.  I'll probably bring them back and expand on it next winter.

This is the largest wolf painting I did for this project.  It's around 24 x 30 inches and depicts a Mexican Grey Wolf which has had a shaky reintroduction in the Southwestern U.S.  The constant battle with wolf reintroduction is how they're viewed culturally, which has changed from one of god-like wisdom and strength to fear, gluttony, and deviousness. Both views are based in spirituality and are at the heart of the wolf debate. 

It can take minutes, hours, or days—a delicate balance of physical and mental strength by the entire pack is needed to overwhelm a 1 - 2,000 lb animal.   This painting, and the rest, are all small, around 8 x 10 inch.

The precious land encased in Yellowstone National Park lays against land owned by states pushing for less regulation on wolf hunting and species protection. Though their legal protection changes past the parks invisible boundary, wolves recognize no sovereign line.  

This is Atka, resting and being sweet. Fear and misunderstanding are the largest threats to a thriving wolf population.

The Red Wolf became extinct around 1980 because of intensive predator control programs. 14 were captured by biologists before their extinction for breeding programs.   

Deforestation, road building, and persecution of the Red Wolves in the South Eastern United States pushed the species into extinction in the wild by the 1980's. They were reintroduction to Alligator River Wildlife Refuge in coastal North Carolina where approximately 100 exist today in an unsteady and uncertain climb to a healthy population.

This is the new puppy, Nikaii. 

To reintroduce a wolf into the wild, a pup of the same species is released outside of a den housing pups of a similar age. The mother will always adopt the new pup and raise it as her own. 

This is Zyphyr! He's may be my favorite.