Requiem for a King

On July, 1, 2015, an American dentist from Minnesota, Walter James Palmer, and local hunting guides lured Cecil, a 13 year old male lion, off the Hwange National Park reserve in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. Palmer shot this magnificent animal with a crossbow and wounded him. He was tracked for 48 hours after which he was shot with handguns, beheaded, and left to rot on the edge of the reserve.

I am not anti-gun, nor am I anti-hunter. I do not hug trees, and I eat meat. I come from a culture of hunting that understands the gravity of taking a life to survive, and it is not a thing to be taken lightly. That is who we are as humans and that is the circle of life.

Killing an animal for the sake of killing is disrespectful of all life and there is simply no excuse. None. Cecil's death was an outrage, and I found myself near tears, many times, while painting Requiem for a King. May we never forget.

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