I love elephants. They are such gracious, gentle creatures with a strong family bond.
For many years I have cut out designs from paper and then transferred that skill to create stainless steel artworks. This includes an art installation of 191 boots for Yorkshire Cancer Research at Castle Howard and commissioned pieces for Virgin Money and The Tour de Yorkshire.
Together with India Mahon, a talented Harrogate jeweller, we have designed and made a family of limited-edition Indian elephants to treasure. My brother Mason Small, who runs MMS, an engineering manufacturing company in Leeds, answered my plea to help with the finished article.
I wanted to illustrate the family with trunks up and down. Western superstitions indicate when elephants' trunks are up, it signifies good luck and kindness. Eastern beliefs suggest a trunk down brings good fortune.
The details I have cut out signify the pattern of a rug and dots from the Painted Elephant annual festival in Jaipur, India, celebrating these revered animals.
Why Indian elephants? According to the World Wildlife Fund, the Asian elephant is on the Endangered list. There are now half the number of elephants than in the 1930s due to man eroding their habitat.
It was a family effort when it came to the production of the elephants. My nephew Jenson digitised the originals and Mason cut them out in stainless steel. Each one was hand-polished with the whole process taking weeks until we were all happy with it.
India supplied vintage sari ribbons to thread through each one. The father is 10cm wide, the mother 9cm and the baby 5cm wide. Limited to 150 families. £45 for a family 3 elephants or any 3 elephants of your choice or £20 each for the mum and dad and £10 for the baby. Each elephant comes wrapped in tissue in a gift box with a ribbon on. Click here to buy
A donation from the sale of my elephants goes to the Elephant Family Charity, which protects Asian wildlife and its habitat.
So, we are creating and helping families of elephants using my family to help.
My background to painting outside stems from early childhood. No matter what the weather - I'll always try and paint outside of my studio to capture the subject matter be it animals, landscapes or as is often the case - a combination!
Beautiful autumn colouring this year inspired me to capture the cherry trees on the stray in Harrogate - slightly windy conditions made the outdoors challenging but well worth the effort - !
Had a fabulous time at the gardens of Monet in the tranquil village of Giverny. Made all the more exciting when a massive storm hit the village the evening we arrived - ended up eating my Sea Bass in a plate full of rainwater..... as the restaurant got deluged!
Anita Bowerman
Author
Artist