Wild Kitties (part of The Rainbow Rainforest Art Series)
Tigers, Lions, Jaguars, exotic cats. Sacred, Mythical Cat, guardian of ancient temples. Large cats are in danger in many parts of the world, from the last roaming tigers in India, to the Jaguars of South America, who are safer in animal preserves than in the wild where their habitats have been destroyed, little by little. The lions of Africa, hunted by poachers, the list goes on....
The Rainbow Rainforest, is an imaginary place where animals rule & roam the world's pristine forests in paradise . In a perfect world, these beautiful animals are untouched by poachers, extinction, loss of habitat, the illegal fur trade and other dangers. With tigers reaching extinction around the world, elephants being poached for their tusks, the fur trade's brutality, it is a terribly sad situation animals & for an animal lover... Utopian Rainbow Rainforest is an imaginary place in my heart, a hopeful sancutary for treasuring the animal's spirit and a vision of bliss that I hope for in the animal's existence. Meant to inspire the love for these large cats and also to manifest human action in the fight to save them from the brink of extinction... I encountered many of the animals in these images through endangered animals sactuaries, zoos and animal rescue programs. I was then able to create paintings & original photographs, of the animals. Many of them were born in captivity as part of an endangered species zoo breeding program. The artwork is a blend of original paintings, original photography and original graphic art. - Alixandra
"Kissing Tigers" 11x14 Matted Hand-Signed Artist Print - $42
Artist Book: Animals of the
Rainbow Rainforest
- In memory of Tatiana ~ beloved Siberian Tigress
Tatiana the Tigress was a loving and majestic tigress. a beautiful creature to behold. I hope to remember her as the tiger I portrayed in my art, and not as the Killer tiger that the international news headlines are describing. She was the hidden inspiration behind many of my love tiger images. Her loving ways of cuddling the other Siberian tiger and frolicking in happiness were a true inspiration to me over the years.
The devastating loss of an artistic muse and a sacred majestic animal. Christmas day, the Siberian Tigress Tatiana and the incident at the San Francisco zoo, in which the Tigress, somehow escaped her enclosure and unfortunately attacked & killed a young man named Carlos Souza , mauling two others nearby, before Tatiana was fatally shot by the San Francisco Police.
I have sat, dozens of times in the exact spot where the man was killed when the Tigress jumped out of her grotto. Enchanted and hypnotized by the tigers on many a day. The tigers stared at me, and I stared at them. The tigers played together, in love, rolling around, frolicking in adoration and I photographed these tigers for many days in adoration of their beauty. I first met the Siberian Tiger, Tony at the San Francisco Zoo several years ago and he had another Tigress with him. His girlfriend, unfortunately died, and the next time I saw Tony he was roaring and pacing and growling and howling in pain over the loss of his Tigress. Tony was a miserable and lonely tiger for several months, than I went to visit him again, and he had a new friend! Tatiana the Tigress as part of a zoo breeding program was the new companion for Tony. She was born in captivity and it was hoped that she would become pregnant as part of the endangered species breeding program.
The love between these two Siberian tigers was a huge emotional and artistic inspiration to me, and from my photographs of them, I created many paintings, graphic collages and inspired pictures of these sacred cats. The two of them together were the inspiration for the Wild Kitties art / big cat collection. I saw the male Siberian tiger become happy again with Tatiana. Gone was the hollowing, angry, lonely tiger pacing his Grotto. Instead, two tigers rolled together in an embrace, nuzzling, cuddling, jumping, their happiness contagious. Napping together in the sun, lazily cuddling. Together, they were a joy to watch. Nothing in the world compares to being fifteen feet away from these majestic, mystical and sacred creatures.
All the headlines read "Killer Tiger " , which is very upsetting reality check, given in my imaginary artistic view of the world, the Tigress is this happy, lovable creature who sits by waterfalls with her lover daydreaming. At this time, it is not known "officially" what provoked the Tigress to attack, though I know in my heart, from observing this Tigress for many days over several years, that Tatiana would not have attacked, without good reason.
With police finding evidence of pine cones, large rocks and tree branches having been thrown at Tatiana, as well as a bloody footprint, I await the close of the police criminal investigation into whether the victims will be held responsible for their taunting and terribly disrespectful behavior which resulted in a tragedy for both the boys and the Tigress.