Greetings from my studio in California.

This year I have been developing a new body of work focused on the African Elephant, and this extraordinary time we are living through has allowed me to reflect upon the pronounced imbalance in our global ecosystem.

Amidst the Covid-19 lockdowns my drawing ‘Generational Transfer’ comes to mind. I think of the importance of passing on not only knowledge and love to the next generation to navigate through a precarious existence, but the importance of passing on a world that is in better condition than we found it.

I chose to focus on the elephant for my most recent body of work as it is an animal that has played a significant role in my life. These pen and ink drawings were inspired from a recent safari to Mana Pools National Park in the Zambezi Valley in 2019. The Zambezi valley holds a special place in my heart as I have been camping on the banks of the river since I was a young boy.

Mana Pools National Park is home to an iconic bull elephant called Boswell. He has learnt a unique technique of standing on his hind quarters to reach up into the colossal Albida trees to gather pods with his trunk when they are fruiting. Most elephants would wait for the pods to dry and fall, or for the baboons to shake them to the ground, but Boswell is not that patient. When he was a young bull, while crossing a stretch of water, a crocodile snuck up behind him and bit off the end of his tail, hence he has no tail hair.

Growing up in a family-run safari business, I came to observe and understand animals and their anatomy from an early age. My father taught us to be naturalists, studying everything from the ant to the elephant. Elephants are extraordinary creatures and I feel humbled by their presence. This drawing is my artistic interpretation of a hunter’s trophy. It is my homage to the elephant’s beauty and intelligence.

I have always admired the ‘Colossus’ that is the Elephant. The size of these great beasts, especially the large tuskers is truly awe-inspiring when on foot and up close. In contrast, I am impressed in the way they can be dwarfed by the flora around them, the brush and towering trees that envelope them. I chose to depict this large tusker amongst this cathedral of trees to represent his immense size in his natural habitat, as he is amongst giants even larger than himself. It makes me contemplate the mere speck that I am in this universe. I recently stood at the base of a giant sequoia tree 210 feet tall and 2400 years old in California. It put into perspective how insignificant we as individuals truly are, and how childlike our concept of time is when measured against the might of such ancient, glorious organisms.

‘UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL’ 36.5 X 34 INCHES

My earliest memories are of family camping trips to the Zambezi river, my family making yearly pilgrimages there. We would camp on the river’s edge, fish all day, and share stories around the fire at night. I have a fond memory as a young boy of my mother teaching me to observe nature and its intimate details. A large elephant entered our camp silently which caught us off guard. In her instinct to protect me my mother drew me up in her arms as she swiftly moved us behind a large mahogany tree, creating a barrier between us and the elephant. Through a fork in the tree she encouraged me to look closely, to see all the wrinkles, observe the eyelashes of the elephant, and to listen to the air move in his trunk and the rumble from his belly. ‘Up close and personal’ is directly inspired by this memory. I will always be grateful for being taught how to look closer and see beyond.

I yearn to get back into the bush soon, to smell the scent of the first rains on the dry dirt roads and hear the call of the hippo across the water. Zimbabwe is reopening in October. Hopefully, we will be back in 2021.

Pricing for drawings in this collection are available upon request. For information on prints, or to commission a drawing, please email me at brennanseward@gmail.com