Money-spinning masterpieces
An artist aiding DZG’s orang appeal has helped fight animal extinction after his drawing of our tigress went under the hammer.
Award-winning David Skidmore, who sketched our Sumatran tigress Daseep earlier in the year, was one of 400 artists and celebrities who donated original art to Explorers against Extinction’s Sketch for Survival auction.
The tiger piece pulled in £85 towards a campaign to use working dogs to safeguard African elephants from poachers and his latest artwork of our four Bornean orangs is raising even more money.
David kindly donated his montage of Benji, Jorong, Jazz and Sprout which has been transformed into 100 signed limited edition canvasses in aid of our £800,000 outdoor enclosure appeal. And already more than a quarter of them have sold.
The 59-year-old, who works from the studio of his Bromsgrove home, said: “The Daseep piece was one of hundreds of artworks up for auction and should help raise tens of thousands of pounds to protect elephants in the wild.
“And I’m delighted the orang artwork is selling well. Every canvas sold helps towards providing the zoo’s orangs with a spacious new outdoor enclosure.”
DZG Retail Manager Isobel Blackwell said: “We have a display copy of the canvas in the shop and it’s a great talking point. Purchasing the orang canvas gives people chance to own a unique piece of art and help the four loveable orangs here at Dudley Zoo.”
The orang canvasses – named ‘We are appealing!’ – each cost £49.99. They are individually signed and come boxed with a certificate of authenticity.
