“Zoe”
Sitting by the fence to Zoe’s home at PrideRock
Wildlife Refuge, she and I are having some quality time together. She
knows me now, so she has come to the fence by me, so I can scratch her
as she purrs. Zoe has an absolutely beautiful face with her deep green
emerald eyes set in her cinnamon colored face trimmed in black and white.
She is very feminine, knows how to pose and sometimes can get the most
angelic expression on her face. It is easy to forget that she is a cougar
and potentially dangerous.
As I reach through the fence with my fingers
to scratch her, she suddenly turns and much to my surprise, she put
her paw through the opening in the fence, reached out and touched me.
She
didn’t open her claws, she just wanted to touch me. Things like
that go straight to my heart.
Getting to know and draw Zoe and the other big cats at PrideRock has
changed my life. In September of 2006, only 25 months ago, I started
drawing again after a layoff from doing drawings and paintings of about
thirty-five years. Last year, in August, I asked Carol and Gary Holliman,
owners of PrideRock, if they would permit me to spend time with and photograph
their big cats for subject matter for my drawings. These two wonderful
people invited me to their wildlife refuge north of Terrell, Texas, and
gave me access to their lions, tigers, cougars and wolves. In getting
to know Carol and Gary, I have learned that it is very expensive and
difficult for them to provide a home for their twenty five big cats and
nine wolves.
So, in addition to the monthly contribution my wife and
I now make to PrideRock, I decided to give them ten percent of the
sales of my artwork, when I have used one of their animals in the drawing
and
or painting that I sell.
Now, I have been fortunate enough to be invited by the Art Colony Association
to have a booth in their Bayou City Art Festival in downtown Houston
on October 18th and 19th. It is my understanding that this art festival
is now the largest in the U.S. with about 300 artists and 60,000 visitors.
Interested? Please sign up here!
Last Friday, October 3rd, I was notified by Susan Farb
Morris, the Public Relations consultant for the Art Colony Association,
that they have been reviewing the story of my return to doing drawings and
paintings and my desire to help support PrideRock Wildlife Refuge. So they
have arranged with the Channel 13 TV Station, here in Houston, to have this
story aired on their “Hometown Live” TV program at 4 PM on Friday,
October 17th, the day before the start of the Bayou City Art Festival. The
TV crew is scheduled to arrive at my home at 10 AM on Friday, October 17th,
to tape the interview.
Thank you, Zoe: I am going to come and scratch you so more as soon as I can.
Cheers,
Acree
<< Back to Email
Archive Page >>
|
