Oil Painting Wildlife

Oil Painting Wildlife

Sculptured Wildlife Decor, Cabin Decor, Lodge Decor and Rustic Decor for the Home, Cabin, Lodge and Workplace

From the beginning, mankind used his resources wisely to sustain life. There came a time when we crossed that fine line of necessity and the slaughter of animals and environmental pollution got out of control. Over the past century we began to see the destruction we were causing from our own progress and laws and organizations came to be. Progress continues, as it should, to keep up with the demand of times. We have turned the corner to cleansing our own blight but we have a long way to go.

Checks and balances have kept wildlife flora and fauna under control for hundreds of thousands of years. When man came on the scene, he used wildlife wisely for food, clothing, tools and weapons. As man became more intelligent he discovered agriculture and livestock management. Man then began to kill animals that preyed on his livestock and foraged in his crops. Hence, the decimation of wildlife began. The elimination of animal species can be tracked as far back as the North American Mastodon. Man kept getting more intelligent. He was beginning to notice that by eliminating a species of animal, was causing him to have problems with other animals. He realized the cost of his intervention to try to fix one problem far out weighed the benefits. The slaughter continued, not only were animals killed for food but for their hide, fur, trophy and even for aphrodisiac. They were killed, stuffed and mounted on walls for cabin decor, lodge decor, wildlife decor and rustic decor.

For the remainder of this article, I refer to North America. Man kept getting smarter and the Industrial Revolution evolved. Man began building dams to harness electricity to power textile mills and manufacturing plants. Mills and manufacturing plants rose up everywhere. People loved it, textile mills and manufacturing meant jobs. Jobs put food on the table, clothed their family and put a roof over their head. As time went on pesticides emerged and were a miracle fix for harmful and destructive insects and rodents. Crops were becoming plentiful and with the advent of veterinary medicines, livestock diseases began to wane. Come the turn of the Twentieth Century man was doing alright for himself. Plenty of food, shelter, running water, electricity and with the advent of appliances, chores were a lot easier. With more money available man began to decorate the interior of their homes. Up on the walls went cabin decor, lodge decor, wildlife decor, rustic decor, fish, pictures, ornaments, clocks, and mirrors.

What man did not understand, or at least had a blind eye to, was the adverse affects of all this progress. The building of dams to harness electricity stopped anadromous fish such as salmon, smelt and shad, from returning to their spawning grounds. Textile and manufacturing plants were polluting the waterways by emitting their by-products back into the rivers. The misuse of pesticides added to the pollution problem and got into the food chain and eliminated some species of birds and animals, it nearly wiped out the bald eagle. This caused insects and other pests that these eliminated species kept in check to get out of control. We began to open our eyes to our own demise and organizations like the Audubon Society formed to promote interest in birdlife. In 1946 the National Wildlife Federation was formed for the benefit of wildlife and laws like the Federal Insecticide Fungicide Rodenticide Act governs the use of pesticides, just to name a few.

As successful as we have become and as intelligent as we are, we still develop problems with progress but we are learning to study the downside first and not move ahead too fast. We have learned to recycle, control pesticides, curb pollution, manage wildlife, and of course, there is room for improvement. We still can do a lot more for wildlife. Put sculptured wildlife decor, cabin decor, lodge decor and rustic decor on the wall instead of stuffed animals.

As individuals we can do our small share to help. We can put trash in its proper place, recycle used oils, solvents and paints so that they do not get land filled and end up in our ground water. Read the entire label on pesticide containers before using. These are just a few things we can do to help. We can teach our children to respect the great outdoors by carrying back litter from their snacks. Not to shoot animals and release fish they do not use for food. Trophy killing is still practiced today. People shoot animals, have them stuffed and mount them on the wall. I find nothing wrong with hunting for food but I do feel that killing animals for the sole purpose of putting them on the wall is wrong.

The skills and technology we have today to make sculptured art so real to life, makes trophy hunting backwards and unnecessary. So go ahead and adorn your walls with wildlife decor, cabin decor, lodge decor and rustic decor but make it artificial.

About the Author

Randolph Heroux, University of New Hampshire, B S Entomology and courses in Natural History and other related sciences. http://www.oldwildlifedecor.com/home_accessories.html

Does anyone know anything about the artist John Greenwell. From Cornwall I think.?

I bought one of his pieces (a small oil painting) back in the eighties but have never seen or heard any more of him since. He did wildlife mostly and worked with oils in the main.

yeah hes still upto that

he lives on my road