Gary says “I was introduced to the founder of Wildlife
Aid, Simon Cowell, through a patron of the charity, actress Jenny Seagrove. She
has quite a collection of my prints and also actively supports many of the same
charities as me.
"Simon
invited me to visit their rescue centre in Leatherhead, England. He got me
excited with the different animals that I could meet at the centre. Some were soon
to be released back into the wild, including a Fox cub and a young Badger.
"Armed
with camera and enthusiasm, I journeyed down to Leatherhead to see what I could
see. I spent a fantastic hour or so in the company of the two cubs, snapping
away, stroking, cuddling and having fun. At one point, the cheeky little Fox
used my shoulders as a look-out point while I was busy photographing the
Badger! I got some good poses from the day especially of the Fox and met many
other interesting human and non- human inhabitants working or staying at the
centre. Incidentally a few of the humans including Simon collect my prints!
DETAIL OF FOX HEAD
"Quite
a while later and my drawing, Little Foxes was born. This was my first foray into
British Wildlife. I intend to draw the Badger I met, sometime in the future.
"The
animals at Wildlife Aid have been the stars of many series of the UK television
documentary programme, Wildlife SOS, fronted by the exuberant Simon Cowell, MBE.”
