Walking, thinking and International Tiger Day.

Walking yesterday, just Elmo, and the dogs. Once upon a time there were three, and Martha and Max and Kiffer. Now the house seems quiet. Only Elmo and Max remain.  And since Maurice died the blog has been harder and harder to do. So, for a while Elmo will live over at facebook, perhaps come in through the blogging catflap now and again.

We are a sad house, for last week we buried Pixie in the garden. She had been ill for some time, but we think was attacked by a big dog who was in the garden. Will never know. At least she is now at peace, but we miss her sitting in the sun in the garden, and for a long time we have missed her walking company. She was ill with something that made her seem as if she had a permanent cold, and so she struggled to catch her breath. Such a lovely affectionate cat. Elmo misses her, and so do I and we are thinking of other cats and kittens and what to do. But meanwhile we went walking.

So, if it is quiet here for some time and you wish to find out what happens next you can wander to Her blog on Her website, or pop to facebook for Elmo's page.

But before we go we wanted to tell you about a very special auction. It is International Tiger Day and to celebrate this and to try and raise money to help tigers She gave away a painting to 21st Century Tiger. The auction went live today, and there is a reserve of £1000 on the painting, which comes from the book I am Cat, written and illustrated by Her with the help of all cats in the house, but especially Pixie and Maurice. You can see more of the paintings at The House of Golden Dreams.

Elmo likes tigers.

What She is doing, by Her.

 Last year I went to London Zoo and fed tigers. To be in the presence of tigers is to be granted an incredible gift. I have  a friend who travels a great deal, Wendy Cooling. I still remember listening to her as she spoke of a safari into the forests in India on elephant back. She was lucky enough to have been given the gift of watching a tiger in the wild. She told me that she cried, the creature was so beautiful. So very very beautiful. Even as she was telling me her eyes filled.

I wanted to do something for these animals that have walked through my dreams and when I was at the zoo I was told about 21st Century Tiger. All I could do was to give them a painting which they could use as they wished, to raise money and to raise awareness for their work. Below is the press release. The auction goes live next week.

Sign up to their facebook page to keep an eye on the auction and please spread the word. The painting comes with a hardback copy of the book signed by Caroline Pitcher and myself. This is a first edition hardback, rare in itself as the book is only in print in paperback now.
I think the reserve price is £500, and given that many of my illustrations are now £4000 this could be a chance to pick up a bargain.

Famous watercolour auctioned for tiger conservation

Acclaimed artist Jackie Morris is donating a watercolour to be auctioned on eBay in aid of 21^st Century Tiger.

The original watercolour from the book Lord of the Forest written by Caroline Pitcher will be auctioned on eBay from 21 March 2011.

One hundred years ago there were 100,000 wild tigers.  Now there are less than 3200 tigers left in the wild.

In the last century Asia’s wild tiger range has shrunk to a mere 7 per cent of its original habitat, shockingly 40 per cent of that decline has happened in the past ten years.

Jackie Morris “Even though in my lifetime I may never ever see a tiger in the wild my world is a richer place for knowing that these wonderful creatures are there. 21^st Century Tiger is a rare organisation working to protect the habitat of the tigers in harmony with the people who live alongside them, and also rare in that 100% of all money given to them goes towards their projects rather than being eaten up by admin costs. It is my hope that when I have grandchildren tigers will still walk through their dreams and through the forests of the world as living creatures and not something from history, creatures of myth”.

21^st Century Tiger is a unique fundraising partnership between the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Global Tiger Patrol that gives 100 per cent of all they raise to carefully chosen conservation projects throughout Asia.

21^st Century Tiger currently funds the work of both international and local conservation organisations with a range of projects from education in China, ranger training in Thailand and anti-poaching, to monitoring of the tiger populations in Sumatra and Russia.

These important projects address the pressures the tiger faces in today’s world of trade, exploding human popu­lation and vanishing forests.

The auction will be held on eBay over ten days, ending on 30^th March 2011. More information can be found at www.21stCenturyTiger.org.

 

ps. thanks cats, for letting me post this. How I love my small tigers.