Watching TV I had a deja vu. On the screen was a painting like this one, so linked to my childhood that I had to stop eating and sit up!
It showed a herd of elephants relaxing in the African bush and looking straight ahead, as if they were staring at a camera. The TV informed me that it was by one David Sheppard, Britain's greatest living artist.
I knew it was by David Sheppard when I saw it, as I'd read his name a thousand times on the bottom of the picture just above the white Sixties cheesy frame. It wasn't my picture, it was my Brother's hanging proudly in his bedroom above his stereo and LP rack.
Being older than me I would stare in his room with awe and wonder. This was the lair of a teenager and as such had to be respected and envied in equal measure. Those magnificent Sheppard elephants would say to me; "You may gawp at us but you'll never understand, not like your big brother!"
I can honestly say I loved those elephants but for the life of me I can't be certain which picture it was. Having googled the artist it would seem he liked the pachyderm and painted them with gusto at various points in elephant family life: single bulls, pairs and entire clans! He did the same with lions, which are equally as arresting.
I shall have to ask my brother what happened to his own elephants!
Does anyone else have a wildlife childhood painting [s] they stared at in awe?
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