In Reaching Out, “the baby elephant was extremely playful and curious. I wanted to capture this joyfulness in the painting. She had her trunk reached out the whole time, smelling everything within reach, almost as if she wanted to learn as much as she possibly could about life, so I painted her reaching out towards the canvas to learn about you.” Bright colours tinge this baby Elephant’s ears, bringing a sweet youthfulness to the painting.

90% of African Elephants have been wiped out in the past century. Even though the international trade in ivory has been banned since 1990, some 30,000 African Elephants are still killed by poachers each year, out of a continent-wide population of about 400,000. Threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and poaching for the illegal ivory trade is a threat in several range countries as well.