Charlotte Williams is a
highly respected and increasingly celebrated British fine artist with a
particular interest in wildlife. She is entirely self-taught and was
drawing her first animal portraits as young as nine years old.
Despite being afforded a scholarship to Farnham Art College
in her late teens, she headed instead for South Africa and the ‘bush’, where
she spent several years living and working on a game reserve in the Eastern
Transvaal. Immersed in the raw environment of the veldt, it was here
that Charlotte’s life-long passion for animals and the wild was born, and
where she passed many hundreds of hours wandering, observing and sketching all
that she saw.
On her return to the
UK in the mid-1990s, Charlotte continued to dedicate herself to art,
this time in Brighton. She went on to exhibit her work in numerous shows -
locally, and in London. She has since been in great demand and
the majority of her work today is by commission, both at home and
abroad.
Charlotte’s consuming affection for wildlife
conservation has remained paramount, and her depiction of Cecil The Lion,
who lived primarily in the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, has become one of
her iconic portraits. She later auctioned the portrait to
raise funds and awareness of the battle against poaching, and she today
continues to support myriad conservation enterprises and wildlife foundations
across the globe.
Each of Charlotte’s meticulous artworks aims to capture the
soul and spirit of her subjects, from behind the eyes, so that you might know
them and feel them, as if they were living and breathing before you. Her
appreciation of wild animals, coupled with her unapologetic perfectionism -
enable her to create paintings and drawings that are unique and wholly
authentic.
Though now based in her studio in rural East Sussex since
2010 she has an ever growing global following on social media and has
recently been made a signature member of Artists For Conservation. She is
represented by numerous people, including the prestigious London and Sussex
based gallery Rountree Tryon and has exhibited at, amongst others, Masterpiece
Art and Gallery Different in London
.
Mojostreaming is a proud sponsor of this year's 2021 WCFF!
Be sure to watch last year's WCFF finalist and Mojo's favorite Documentary: Trailer: youtu.be
Wach the film here:
https://www.mojostreaming.com/video/635/roam4wild-the-documentary-film
Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WCFF) is an international film festival based in New York and Los Angeles, that promotes and produces interactive events around independent films that promote sustainability and the conservation of biodiversity. The WCFF has global partnerships in Brazil, China, Kenya, and Scandinavia as of November 2019.
The Wildlife Conservation Film Festival was founded in 2010 by Christopher J. Gervais, FRGS at first as a 2-day event and has now grown to a 10-day festival.[1] It is a juried event with attendees and participants that include international wildlife conservationists, filmmakers, photographers, scientists, and people across the globe that work toward the preservation of global biodiversity. WCFF has a global educational outreach program with secondary and post-secondary institutions in North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe as of 2019.
Be sure to visit their website: wcff.org
Board of Advisors:
Jane Alexander
Casey Anderson
Gale Brewer
Holly Marie Combs
Fabien Cousteau
Dr. Sylvia Earle
Dr. Birute’ Mary Galdikas
Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE
Dr. David Guggenheim
Dr. Paula Kahumbu, OGW
Ron Magill
Ian Redmond, OBE
Dr. E.O. Wilson
Dr. Patricia C. Wright
David Hamlin
A Zoo in My Luggage by Gerald Durrell
In 1957, Gerald Durrell and his wife set out to "collect" animals from Bafut in the British Cameroons of West Africa for their zoo, a location for which was yet to be secured. They returned with a menagerie of creatures and the novel is an account of how he shifts the animals around England while scouting for a permanent location. 'Throughout my life,' he writes, 'I have rarely if ever achieved what I wanted by tackling it in a logical fashion.' A Zoo in my Luggage is a hilarious true story of animal relocation written in Durrell's inimitable style that combines charming descriptions with dry humour. His timeless classic, My Family and Other Animals, is a childhood adventure. This novel captures his unwavering love for wildlife and nature as an adult.
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Who can forget Mowgli? The little boy who was raised by a pack of wolves in the jungles of India. The book follows his adventures with all kinds of animals—Bagheera the black panther and Baloo the bear who teach him the important laws of the jungle to Sher Khan, the tiger who is Mowgli's mortal enemy. Other stories include Rikki-Tiki-Tavi, the tale of a brave mongoose who saves a family from two vicious cobras and Toomai, a young mahout and his elephant. The book transports you to a world of forests and animals, one riddled with meaning and symbolism in a way that can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike.
Man-Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett
After much persuasion from his friends and family, Jim Corbett finally penned down this riveting memoir of his encounters with big cats in the Indian Himalayas. First published in 1944 by Oxford University Press, Corbett used stories from his previous book titled Jungle Stories as its basis. The stories follow him as he tracks and kills several man-eating tigers in India, including the terrifying Champawat Tigress, who set a world record by killing 436 people in Nepal and India before being shot by Corbett in 1907.
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
The Snow Leopard is a day-by-day account of the author's journey into the remote Dolpo region of the Nepal Himalayas with his friend, the biologist George Schaller, to study the mating patterns of the Himalayan blue sheep. He also hopes to catch a glimpse of the elusive snow leopard which ultimately becomes a metaphor for his own spiritual quest as the book progresses. "Figures dark beneath their loads pass down the far bank of the river, rendered immortal by the streak of sunset upon their shoulders." His empathy towards the natural makes this book one of the greatest examples of both nature and travel writing.
The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony with Graham Spence
Lawrence Anthony, the wildlife conservationist, took in a herd of wild African elephants at his Thula Thula game reserve. The matriarch and her baby had been shot leaving the herd traumatized and highly dangerous. Anthony realized he might be their last chance of survival. This book is the incredible story of his struggle to form a bond with these elephants who ultimately accepted Anthony as their matriarch. When he died in 2012, the same herd of elephants made a twelve-hour journey to his home to mourn his death.
The white ring around the waterbuck’s hindquarters has led to many tales. A favorite is that they were the first animals to use the toilet on Noah’s Ark. The newly-installed toilet seats on the ark were still wet with paint and left a distinctive white ring on their rumps. Despite these bucks being a part of the ‘butt joke’, there are valid reasons for the white markings on their hindquarters. Flashes of color often scare off predators and act as a ‘follow me’ sign, helping other waterbucks flee when in danger.
Waterbuck are sexually dimorphic, meaning males and females have external differences apart from their reproductive organs.
Males can be up to 25% larger than their female counterparts and they carry the defining feature of beautiful, long, ringed horns.
These horns curve backward and then forward and vary in length from 55 cm to 99 cm. The age of the bull determines the length of the horns.
Waterbuck horns will begin to develop at around 8 to 9 months and mark the young buck’s time to separate from the herd. Young males form bachelor groups remain together until they mature and move on to make their own herd. Waterbucks’ diets are rich in protein and other nutrients. This includes coarse grasses that are seldom eaten by other plain animals and long sweet grasses like buffalo grass.
During the dry season, they supplement their diet by browsing on leaves from shrubs and certain trees, such as the Sweet thorn (Vachellia karroo). At times, you will find them shoulder-deep in water, eating roots and other aquatic plants.
They also enjoy browsing on certain fruits, especially the marula fruit during the ripe season. These antelope typically eat in the mornings and late afternoons and chew cud for the remainder of the day.
These herbivorous animals have remarkably high water requirements. They need to drink often, which is one reason why they remain close to permanent water points at all times. You’ll often find them nestled in reed beds near rivers and dams, or on floodplains.
Common waterbuck are social animals. They live in herds or groups of up to 12. Male antelopes are dominant over a certain territory, and their herd consists of females, young bachelors, and calves.
The herds are constantly changing, as individuals can join or leave at any time, provided there aren’t other males looking to dominate the territory.
When a bachelor threatens the territory of a herd leader, the dominant male will posture aggressively and even start a fight if necessary. These fights can be fatal, as the waterbuck uses its long, strong horns in combat.
Typically, a waterbuck will live up to 18 years in the wild. In general, 12-15 years is a good life for a wild waterbuck. @GodfreytheGuide #Antelope #https://www.instagram.com/p/CQo-ZP4gIwZ/?utm_medium=copy_link
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