Celebrating Chinese New Year with a Special Tiger

The Tiger in this painting was inspired by a beautiful tiger at Chessington zoo, who I befriended and studied in 1995. The painting itself was a wonderful commission, which allowed me to explore this extraordinary subject on a large, heroic scale. It is an oil on canvas painting, measureing 183 x 122 cm.

Tigers hunt at night between dusk and dawn. They love water and will often sit in a pool to cool down when it is very hot. I wanted to reflect these things and show the Tiger at night, sitting by a lake, with a mysterious temple in the distance. This was inspired by reading about the Ranthambore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan. In his poem Tyger Tyger William Blake urges us not to loose that sense of awe towards the natural world of which we are all a part.

I see the Tiger as symbolising the very essence of life and his survival as an indicator of the health of our natural world.

He is my tribute to the Water Tiger which symbolises this Chinese New year.

Tiger Tiger oil on canvas, 183 x 122 cm