Hip-Hop-Anonymous

Sorry for the Adam Sandler movie reference. :D

A few months ago I painted this sweet little Pygmy Hippopotamus Baby. I was under a tight deadline and ended up with something cute but that didn’t feel entirely finished.

With the Art in the Barn coming up, I took the opportunity to complete this painting by adding details to the background.

Pygmy Hippos are endangered. A sidebar: I don’t know if it is my grandma’s influence and the San Diego Zoo magazines to which she subscribed me as a kid, or if it’s growing up in the Heal the World and Free Willy and Ferngully era… but I really, really value conservation. I am drawn to painting endangered animals as a way to bring attention to the necessity for wildlife conservation.

From the research I did conduct, I found that one of the few places that Pygmy Hippos live is in Liberia. I wanted to include, as is my custom, some details that connected my subject with its natural habitat.

In the background of this painting are now some plants that are endemic to Liberia. I have iNaturalist and Research Gate to thank for this info as I have, regrettably, not travelled there myself.

Thank you for stopping by to check out this makeover!