Park West Gallery Teams Up with Artists to Conserve Wildlife
Artists Guy Harvey and Andrew Bone don’t want their paintings to become the only remaining evidence of Earth’s diverse wildlife.
Bone and Harvey do more than just paint beautiful images of wildlife, they actively work to save it. As conservationists by trade and artists by talent, the artists strive to protect and conserve natural habitats and animal rights.
The Park West Foundation, the non-profit arm of Park West Gallery, supports their respective efforts.
Andrew Bone
“Evening Watch” (2012), Andrew Bone
Bone is known for saying: “Don’t paint it unless you’ve studied it, been chased by it, or done something to save it.”
When the Zimbabwe native worked as a tour guide in the Zambezi Valley, he sketched the animals he encountered. It wasn’t until the late ‘80s that Bone became a full-time artist, using his experiences observing and photographing wildlife to paint photorealistic images.
“Conservation has always been my prime mover,” Bone says. “I see the art two-fold: one is a vehicle to achieve my aims in conservation…the other is sitting behind the easel and the passion comes out in trying to be absolutely true to wildlife.”
Andrew Bone with one of three lions relocated to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Bone)
Bone founded the Forever Wild Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife in Africa. The foundation’s projects have included the collaring and tracking of cheetahs and wild dogs, and bolstering the lion population.
“I was a conservationist and a wildlife enthusiast long before I was an artist, and I’ll be that long after I finish painting,” Bone says.
Guy Harvey
“Hawksbill Caravan” (2015), Guy Harvey
The reason Harvey depicts his subjects so well is not just his technique, but his unwavering commitment to conserve the species he paints.
Harvey has successfully blended his passions working as an artist, scientist, conservationist, diver, and an angler in support of “catch and release” ethics. Harvey uses his art to draw attention to marine life that suffers from over-fishing, global consumption, and poor resource management.
“The reason why I spend so much time on the research and education and conservation is because the species I like to paint and interact with and catch and dive with are all in different states of decline,” Harvey says.
Harvey’s research includes groupers, lion fish, reef fish, and turtles, but mostly focuses on large species such as sharks and sailfish.
Guy Harvey diving with a mako shark (Photo courtesy of Greg Jacoski)
In 1999, he formed the Guy Harvey Research Institute in collaboration with Nova Southeastern University to protect fishery resources on a global scale. In 2008, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation was established to educate and fund projects that conserve marine environments.
“Through research you achieve education,” Harvey says. “If you have an educated community or foundation, then you can effect conservation. It can’t happen without the very first step, which is gathering the data.”
Contact Park West Gallery at (800) 521-9654 ext. 4 or sales@parkwestgallery.com to collect the artwork of Bone and Harvey.
