 Back in November I went to visit Dominique and John a couple of dedicated Flying Fox rescuers and carers. At the time they were inundated with small orphans and so I took along a my video and camera to learn more about these amazingly cute and intelligent animals. I watched them all being fed which took over two hours there were so many babies in care. After feeding came exercise time and my goodness did these babies have fun on the clothes airer they cavorted around on. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any good photos or video due to the darkened conditions, the fact the critters were black and the constant movements of excited babies at play. However, I did get to see how they moved and stretched and even got a glimpse of their lovely, mischievous characters. Such beautiful creatures and really babies needing their foster carers attention and love. I learnt so much about them during my visit and didn't realise that they are as intelligent as a dog, even responding to their given names. When I started painting this project, I was driven to create something around the stretching and acrobatics of the youngsters. I totally departed from my usual creative process, in that I didn’t paint the eyes first, like I usually do. This time I began with a stretched wing, then a folded wing…….the eyes came last. I can only guess the 'why' in this instance was that I had to get to ‘know’ the critter before I could make an attempt on capturing the soul.  I’m not sure I managed to do that, but what I do know is that this painting made my heart sing once I’d finished it and when I saw the first printed proof it brought tears to my eyes. So one could say I was fairly please with it. I haven’t yet decided whether to make this an original or a limited edition print yet, it depends on how much interest it gets. I also have another Flying Fox painting to do, but it hasn't quite made itself known to me yet, so watch this space.  SAYING GOODBYE TO OLD FRIENDS I’ve decided to start retiring some of my prints even though they haven’t reached their limited edition numbers. This is because I constantly strive to improve my work and techniques over time and sometimes I look back on certain pieces and think “I could do this a lot better than this now”. I also need to make room for new work. That said… I will be retiring the ‘Dakota’ and ‘Affera’ prints by the 1st of April 2016. So, if you have been thinking about getting either of these beautiful girls at any time, please note they will not be available after that date. 
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