“Find a sausage tree,” says Guy Combes, “and the chances are good you’ll
find a leopard as well. They are ideal for leopards, with their large
broad branches to sprawl out on or to place a kill for safekeeping away
from lions, hyenas and jackals. Leopards have evolved incredibly strong
fore and hind leg muscles specifically for climbing trees. This trait
allows them to avoid fighting with other animals of prey over a kill.
“Sausage trees don’t grow in stands, so a large solitary tree provides a
leopard not only with solitude but also with an expansive view of what
is happening in the territory around it. Leopards will hunt from the
early evening to dawn so at midday, as it was when I came across this
great cat on the Maasai Mara, leopards are most likely resting. This cat
was so comfortable in its perch that a group of elephants rubbing
themselves on the base of the tree barely disturbed it.”
Fine Art Giclée Canvas
Smallworks
Hand signed by the artist
“This painting is
about the promise of a partnership I believe in,” says Guy Combes. “The ranch my
family is associated with in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, Soysambu, has become a
nature conservancy. Wild cheetahs have not been seen at Soysambu for over 6
years, but a long-term feasibility study by the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF)
has been undertaken to assess the possibility of trans-locating them here from
areas where their survival is threatened. Part of that plan is to set up a
sanctuary on the Soysambu Conservancy with the help of Action for Cheetahs in
Kenya and Project Survival's Cat Haven in California.
As you can see, Soysambu is an ideal location for the cheetah. Project Survival
had commissioned me to paint their cheetah, Tango, who came from South Africa
and was raised at their fabulous Cat Haven facility outside Fresno, California.
I suggested that in the spirit of the project, he be the first 'trans-location'
to Soysambu. In the background is one of Soysambu’s most recognizable
landmarks—a small volcano named 'The Sleeping Warrior.’”
This small herd
of Rothschild giraffe is making its way across the Great Rift Valley as pelicans
from Lake Elmenteita pass overhead. Less than 700 of the Rothschild giraffe are
thought to remain in existence, possibly only 500. Their habitat is severely
depleted and this giraffe subspecies can only be found in the wild in areas of
Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, Nakuru National Park in Kenya and
Soysambu Conservancy, also in Kenya. “At Soysambu we have a population of 60
that are breeding very successfully,” says artist Guy Combes. The Soysambu
Conservancy is a non-profit organization whose goal is to preserve Africa’s
Great Rift Valley ecosystem for the benefit of future generations of both man
and animal.
The Aberdare National Park in
Kenya, which ranges from 9 to 15,000 feet in elevation, is an enchanted island
of montane forest on the edge of the Rift Valley. The elephants that inhabit
this Eden are accustomed to their privacy since there is so much cover to
protect them from the few people that visit the park. My inspiration for The
Creche came from a recent visit. As I approached the herd, these three females
immediately huddled around their young to protect them. The Aberdare National
Park is a very special place for my own family, too. It is where we regularly
gather to pay our respects to my grandparents, my uncle and my father, so the
family theme seemed particularly appropriate to me.
