Jaguar Portrait
I painted this to honor the mysterious jaguar and their playful side. I hope one day there will be a place for them here in their former territory. I haven’t done many big cats, but I am in awe in particular over the jaguar’s beauty and stealth.
Jaguars can't be tamed in the manner that lions, tigers, and even leopards can be. They're much more unpredictable. That's why you don't see them in circus acts. You don't even often see them in zoos, because they're not a good exhibition animal. They're a lone, solitary, almost moody type of species.
There was recently one jaguar, named El Jefe, in the United States He made his home here for 4 years, but because there are no others here, he returned to Mexico. The species has been completely extirpated in the United States, so his appearance was celebrated by conservationists. Unfortunately, there are so many obstacles to jaguars returning to the US. There are highways, hunters, the border wall, and Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains, a great habitat for wildlife, is threatened by the construction of a copper mine.
I read about these powerful cats and their sad story here in this country. Imagine them all the way up into California and south through Florida. These beauties were famed and legendary. Unlike other cats, they pierce the skulls of their prey with one powerful bite. Pound for pound, the bite of a jaguar is the most powerful of the big cats, even more than that of a tiger and a lion. They can take the whole skull off larger animals like tapirs or cows. But my jaguar wants to play with a butterfly.
Contact The Artist About This Artwork
 |  |  |
