In 2015, I was honored to travel to South Africa to live in the bush for a month as a wildlife conservation volunteer. The compound we stayed in was on the predator side of the reserve, and had only a simple electric fence separating us from the dangerous African wildlife. On the third day of our program, a monkey accidentally jumped onto the transformer supplying electricity to our compound and the fence. The transformer blew, and all of the electricity to the compound went down, including the fence. For the rest of my stay there, the electric current through fence around the compound remained down. Thankfully, the predators knew through experience that the fences in the reserve emit an uncomfortable shock; they stayed clear of the fence around our home, even though there was really nothing between us but strips of intertwined metal wire.

During the conservation program, we worked long hours six days a week tracking, counting and monitoring wildlife, removing invasive plant species, maintaining dirt paths and keeping the trails clear of debris and brush, as well as studying behavior patterns of the lions, elephants and rhino—all while keeping an eye out for any signs of poachers.

Many days were spent tracking and observing the lion pride at the reserve. We would slowly approach the pride with our Land Rover, and carefully park, spending hours in the middle of the pride, watching and studying the behavior and interactions of the lion. This particular painting is from a photograph I shot of one of the male lions, catching an amazing yawn with split-second precision. This experience was, without a doubt, one of the most amazing of my life…