SOLD

Acrylic and charcoal on a collaged background.

46 x 61 x 2 cm.

Unframed.

I created this on a pre-prepared canvas with a collaged background, drawing the image on top with charcoal and using acrylic white to mix with the black charcoal to give the light and dark tones. This painting is a tribute to a noble creature and my favourite animal. I have named him 'Loyalty' because they are renowned for remembering things and being loyal to others. It is thought elephants can even remember their past life. Looking at this elephant, I'm reminded of the time when I visited the Elephant Sanctuary for orphaned and injured elephants in Sri Lanka in 2000 and got to feed a baby elephant. I am also reminded of the song "Me and The Elephant" by Bobby Goldsboro which never fails to make me cry. Elephants symbolize strength, good luck, power, wisdom, and vitality. They are a gentle soul in a mammoth body, highly trainable, sensitive, and wise. Commitment and strong familial bonds are also elephant traits and is evidenced by the way they show compassion for their dead. An elephant is patient, steady, stable, and non-temperamental unless provoked. They make loyal and loving friends and display a wide range of emotions, including joy and sorrow. Owing to their round shape and grey colour, they became representative of clouds. In all the great religions of the world, the Elephant is highly regarded. In India, Hindus like me, believe in the Elephant-headed god, Ganesh is worshiped before the start of anything important or auspicious. He is revered as the destroyer of evil, the remover of obstacles and clears the path to wealth, health, and prosperity. Elephants are endangered and in danger of extinction and this painting reminds us that, even when the worst is over, we will still have climate change and loss of our natural world to contend with.