Robbie Schafler

My series of paintings is inspired by several sources. At the American Museum of Natural History, I sketched, photographed, and researched each animal that I wanted to paint. I was intrigued by the movement of pattern and textured fur that covered each animal — so tactile, so inviting to my fingertips. As in the painting, “Electra Reclining” I utilized a sensory process in which I imagined the feeling of running my hands across the tiger's muscular body and through its fur coat. To me, this is not unlike petting and grooming my own dog.

 

While examining the habitats of the museum's dioramas, I became passionate about creating animals that are frozen in a moment in time, as if posing for sketches and photos. This offers a contrast to the live animals that I observed in zoos, farms, equestrian facilities, and wildlife documentaries. 

 

The paintings of Henri Rousseau offered another source of inspiration for my body of work. Rousseau's insertion of imagined figures into a jungle of his own improbable scenario has always stimulated my imagination. From him, I came up with the idea of wild creatures juxtaposed to an environment that is both domestic and tame.

 

My own dog became yet another catalyst for my allegorical themes. I caught her curled up, comfortably on the edge of the Victorian sofa in my living room. This image ignited my imagination. I began painting exotic animals in unconventional environments. This is exemplified in my first foray into my Lyrical Wildlife series, “Cat Nap.”