Threatened species | Jane Lee McCracken, Artist

“Drawing for Endangered Species Workshops” brochure cover by Jane Lee McCracken and Jack Lowe Studio

This week sees the launch of an inspirational school workshop project ‘Drawing for Endangered Species’ which shares my great passion for drawing and animals. 25% of each workshop fee will be donated to the Born Free Foundation in aid of the vital work they do for wildlife.

‘Chimpanzee’, Jemma aged 8, East Lothian, black Biro drawing

Children possess a natural passion for drawing and interest in animals. In creating an art and educational based workshop, I hope by enthusing children to express themselves through drawing, to create a domain where individual interest and awareness of threatened wildlife and habitats thrives, and continues into adulthood. Schools give fundamental education to children about the environment and my workshops are designed to respond to individual school curriculums. I believe teaching children about environmental issues just as I was fortunate enough to be enthused as a child, helps secure a broader understanding for preserving beautiful habitats and wildlife each generation has the privilege to inherit.

‘The Orphans’, Brown Bears, In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, black Biro drawing by Jane Lee McCracken

The workshops are inspired by my recent drawing series ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’. Bringing a small pop-up exhibition of my Biro drawings to the classroom and encouraging students’ drawing skills, the workshops also explore positive ways children can help save endangered and threatened species through an interactive science based discussion. Students are then given the opportunity to celebrate the beauty of endangered species through an expressive drawing session using colour Biros.

Year 5, St Peter’s Roman Catholic School, Scarborough with their artwork produced during ‘Drawing for Endangered Species’ workshop

Endangered Species badges for each student using an image of their drawing made during workshops are also included.

Endangered Species badges with artwork by Year 5, St Peter’s Roman Catholic School, Scarborough

For bookings and enquiries or to receive a brochure with further information about workshops please contact jane@janeleemccracken.co.uk

A huge thank you to brilliant art teacher Mrs Haddington of St Peter’s Roman Catholic School, Scarborough for all her help with this project and to Head Teacher Mrs Louise Finlay, her staff and the students of Year 5 for so generously welcoming a pilot workshop to their school and for all the beautiful artwork they produced. Also to Jack Lowe Studio for all the hard work and help completing the brochure design.

And an enormous thank you to the Born Free Foundation for supporting this project. For further information about the Born Free Foundation and the inspirational work they do please visit their website at www.bornfree.org.uk

‘Siberian Tiger’, ‘Ice Fox’ and ‘Tiger’, limited edition archival pigment prints

In conjunction with this project I will be donating ALL profits made from the sales of the three limited edition archival pigment prints above, beautifully crafted to order by Jack Lowe Studio, to the Born Free Foundation. Prints are priced at £40 each plus postage – for further details please visit my shop.

“Mummy Bear and Baby Bear”, Brown Bears, ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, 2013 black Biro drawing by Jane Lee McCracken

As part of the Brown Bears diptych for my luxury china plate series “In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia”, ‘Mummy Bear and Baby Bear’ highlights the practice of den hunting in Russia where hibernating adult bears are woken by dogs and shot as they emerge from their den, resulting in the orphaning of cubs if the female bear has produced a litter. Using Anselm Kiefer’s painting, ‘Parsifal III’, 1973 as the underlying layer of the drawing, this piece depicts not only the physical painted elements of Kiefer’s dark den like attic but also Kiefer’s symbolism, his bold challenges on recent history and the fact that Kiefer’s attic represents the origin of time. This signifies for me age-old relationships between man and animals, both good and evil.

‘Mummy Bear and Baby Bear’, Brown Bears, luxury fine English china plate by Jane Lee McCracken

Kiefer’s portrayal of the ‘Parsifal Saga’ and Wagner’s ‘Parsifal’ Opera include the symbolic ‘holy spear’ which in this drawing penetrates the cub’s neck creating Jung’s ‘Amfortas Wound’, the wound that never heals. The representation of the ‘Amfortas Wound’ not only suggests that man historically as a species continues to repeat controversial behaviour despite knowledge of its consequences, but also implies the pain of ‘loss’ that never completely heals. In the centre of the piece are a mother bear and her cub, a drawing montage of Viktor Koretsky’s 1942 WWII propaganda poster “Red Army Soldiers, Save Us!”. The drawing parallels not only the interpretation of the fairy tale ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ which moralises key needs for both humans and bears such as food, safety and shelter but also asks “where’s Daddy bear?”, is he also a victim of den hunting? The gun thrust into the faces of Mummy bear and Baby Bear is a WWII Russian PPSH41 Sub Machine gun replacing the German bayonet in Koretsky’s original poster suggesting ‘Friendly Fire’ on Brown Bears as it is Russian business deals that continue the practice of den hunting and result in the hunting of Russia’s national symbol.

Sadly the original black Biro drawing was damaged but thankfully not before the image in its original form reached THE NEW ENGLISH to be made into plates. This plate and the the beautiful luxury prints made by Jack Lowe Studio are therefore very special to me on a personal level.

“Mummy Bear and Baby Bear”, Brown Bears, ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, 2013 black Biro drawing by Jane Lee McCracken

For plate enquiries please contact:

jane@janeleemccracken.co.uk

For plate sales please visit THE NEW ENGLISH

For luxury Archival Pigment prints made to order by master printmaker Jack Lowe Studio please visit my shop

Jane Lee McCracken, Artist

www.janeleemccracken.co.uk

Tag Archives: Threatened species

“DRAWING for Endangered Species” School Workshops in aid of the BORN FREE FOUNDATION

Where’s Daddy Bear?

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