Robert Bateman

A friend gave me this print of Robert Bateman's work. I was ecstatic. Ever since I came here to Canada, I see his works in shops, galleries, offices and bookstores. And although his style of realistic painting isn't exactly my preference, his works never fail to evoke in me an appreciation of nature. He depicts nature and animals in their most elegant selves. The tone of his paintings too is sober and contemplative, like the reeds at the rivebank with just a small hint of a bird somewhere just waking up for their morning feed. There is a calmness in it that is amazing. In his website, he is qouted:

" I can't concieve of anything being more varied and rich and handsome than the planet Earth. And it's crowning beauty is the natural world. I want to soak it up, to understand it as well as I can, and to absorb it...and then I'd like to put it together and express it in my painting. This is the way I want to dedicate my life." ---- Robert Bateman

One thing that I could feel changing in me as I continue to live here in Canada is my growing admiration and near reverence to nature. I could feel (and possibly absorb) it from people I see every day, in the images that surround me and the beauty of nature that is consciously preserved within the urbanity that surrounds it. I can't forget the day when I walked towards a nice hotel entrance in the heart of downtown Victoria and saw at it's side wall, in a smalll patch of pond with a small flowing fountain on top of it, hundreds of multi-colored ducks and drakes were filling it to the brim. I have never seen such beautifully colored birds in such numbers in a small area, right in the middle of a city before! (Back home, people would most likely have roasted them for dinner). The hotel doorman gave me an understanding smile while I gaped and stared at the lumps of ducks in front of me. I associate cities with trash, traffic, lots of dust and if there are creatures I see passing by, it would be rats. But apparently, not here. Here, it seems man and nature can co-exist...at least it feels that way. The ducks don't get cooked.
At near wintertime, the groceries fill up their stands with bird seeds and bird food and I wondered why that was, it was later that I realized that a lot of people had birdfeeders in there backyards and that they are helping the birds survive the winter (when seeds are sparse). Quite a thoughtful act. I felt this is the way that things should be. Man being just one of all other creatures and not living at the expense of the rest of the earth's inhabitants.