Liora Fine Art

Lali. An artist's confession of a digression.

I painted Lali  right after hearing the story on NPR. I was devastated. 
 I must confess I really didn't know elephants at all. All I knew was that my heart was breaking and that I needed to do something.
My only reference was a trunklines newsletter from the elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Because I am so sensitive to intellectual-property rights, I didn't want to copy one of the elephants so in fact I looked at them and created one from my heart inspired by Sissy, Tarra, and Lizzie.   The elephant that came out was ghostlike in appearance and yet I loved her. She had pleading Eyes And a tenderness and vulnerability that really moved me. Meanwhile,

I contacted The elephant listening project and was delighted to receive a letter back from Peter Wrege, the director. Peter was so kind upon seeing my first elephant painting, Lali… Please save us. Dont buy ivory. His Pointed out that it was that it was indeed an Asian elephant and while they also certainly did help there was a difference between the Asian and African elephants. Who knew? Not me.
So as is the nature of Google, I started googling and found out yes, there are differences between the Asian and African elephants and indeed they are all in dire need of help. So as I painted nine African elephants I started to look at Lali with an artist/teacher's critical eye. She was two white, she's a young female who most likely would not even have tasks. Looked a little bit ghostly.

So I had the brilliant idea to change her. Firstly starting with her color, and then decided that indeed I should turn her into an African elephant since both ELP and DSW T work with the African  elephants. Lali did not want to be an African elephant. She  is an Asian elephant. And while not a perfect Asian elephant, she was indeed the first elephant I painted. So maybe I was ignorant, maybe I didn't really know elephants then. But what I did know was my heart, and the energy and despair and emotion that I felt came through Lali. I lay awake at night thinking what have I done?. I destroyed the first elephant that I painted with the raw emotion that I felt after learning what was going on with elephants around the world. I could also go on about how this embarked me on a journey of learning about elephants plight in captivity and how incredibly connected I feel to these beings now. As I painted them I have  become intimate with them on some level.
They are family to me. They are magnificent beings. So back to Lali, after a few nights of laying awake I decided that I needed to bring her back as close as I could to her original form, making the corrections in color and yes, erasing her Tusks. 

For those of you who have worked in watercolor, you may start to get the picture that this is not an easy task. Watercolor is often touted as the most difficult medium, and perhaps this is because corrections aren't always the easiest. So while I feel that Lali may be  More than somewhat overworked I feel joyous in the sense that I have found the elephant that I originally painted. She's a little older and wiser now and still looks out at me, at us with this pleading eyes please save us. Don't buy Ivory.

And I'm quite a journey together, Lali and I . She is my homage to all Asian elephants who have suffered and are still  suffering, and in her original ghostly appearance as the ghosts of elephants that we've lost for chachkas. 
Please help to save them. Call for a ban on the ivory trade worldwide.