Laura, 
Congratulations!
Your entry, “Between A Rock and ..”, has been selected for the 54th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists, to be displayed from August 23 through October 26, 2014 at The Wildlife Experience in Parker, CO. Your work may also be selected for the Art and the Animal Tour if you have not chosen to opt out of the tour. We had 403 submissions (294 2D and 109 3D) from 246 of our members for this year’s exhibition, and the quality was phenomenal. It was definitely a tough jury again, so you should be especially proud that your work was selected. The caliber of the entries was superb.
About the painting…. When I read anecdotal accounts of badgers emerging from holes they have excavated through blacktopped pavement and two inch thick concrete it gave me the idea to paint her among a bunch of rocks and play up the textural contrasts between the two. I love painting the predators. German philosopher, Martin Buber, once said, ” the eyes of an animal speak great truths.” I’ve always believed that and it has always been my goal to capture that truth. The badger in the painting lives a grumpy life in Montana. That is the truth!
