When creating a portrait, painters often ask their models to sit for them in order to capture an accurate depiction. Artist Karen Laurence-Rowe, however, has a bit of an unusual situation. Her subjects are actually a wide variety of African wildlife, so she can’t exactly ask them to sit still.
Laurence-Rowe is one of Kenya’s leading wildlife artists, documenting everything from pairs of hunting lions to a wandering herd of elephants and a group of giraffe running through the desert sands. The self-taught painter has a unique style that naturally blends lively landscapes with the crisp details of each powerful creature. As the colors burst off the canvas, viewers are greeted with the passionate zeal of Africa’s diverse species.
Having grown up in East Africa, Laurence-Rowe says, “The beauty of Africa is ingrained in my blood–I love its untamed and often harsh beauty–its unpredictability. Africa is changing so fast–we are losing so much, I feel compelled to get it down–now–before it is lost forever.”
