Studio Buteo :: The Art of Rosemary G. Conroy

Whew — this makes it all real, I guess — in a virtual sort of way. Today I start painting the first of what will eventually become 350 portraits of North American wildlife.

The idea is to show how much is at stake in our efforts to combat global climate change. I figure a wall of 350 wild animals staring back at us, the humans in charge, has a chance to make a dent. I chose to focus on North American animals because (a) that’s where I live and (b) we are using the most stuff on this planet and having the biggest impact.

So what gave me this crazy idea? Well, I was inspired by Bill McKibben and his organization 350.org to do something symbolic but meaningful to raise awareness about this important effort. We need to get our CO2 emmissions back down to 350, from where we are at aroun 387 or so. Being a wildlife painter, it wasn’t a huge leap to think 350 paintings. Of wildlife. Of course!

(It did occur to me, at first, to get 350 artists to each do one painting, but the coordination that would have required would have taken me away from my own painting. And being selfish and maybe a tiny bit of a control freak, I decided it will be easier to do myself. We’ll see!)

So I plan to post my images as they come along, so please check back often. I have lots of ideas on how this is all going to roll out, but first I have to get some paint down on some canvases.

Thanks for your interest and support!