My husband and I began a wild camping safari to southern Africa in June 2024. The tour company’s publicity read: ‘It’s not a holiday, it’s an adventure.’ It’s fair to say it turned out to be even more of an adventure than we bargained for! Armed with a sketchbook and pencil, I tried to draw the wildlife. The very act of drawing helps to fasten the scene in the memory. One such occasion was sitting beside a pride of lions as they feasted on a kill and then sprawled out, as cats are prone to do, with legs akimbo digesting their meal, their stomachs filled to bursting!

Back in the UK, I’ve worked on a collection of pictures inspired by these wonderful wildlife sightings. First up, ‘A Dazzle of Zebras’ with their beautiful markings, followed by ‘Tusks Forward’ a portrait of an elephant which was so close we could almost touch it. The giraffes, African skyscrapers, stood out against the horizon with their elegant long necks and stately forms, as depicted in ‘The Long Reach’. We felt privileged to watch a female leopard stash her kill in a thicket, before passing in front of our vehicle to quench her thirst in a small pool – ‘Taking a Drink’. 

I hope you enjoy my African Collection as much as I enjoyed painting them.

Shirley Cherry

Member of TWASI – The Wildlife Art Society International