Tom's immense fascination with Africa, the Serengeti and Etosha National Parks knew no bounds. The everyday lives of the animals that walked its myriad of pathways had a marked influence on his own life. He was fiercely defensive about the male role of provider, despite the fact that male lions, in general, loll around scratching themselves leaving the females to hunt - a fact that I occasionally pointed out to him, just to wind him up when he was in chest-beating mode. But, lions apart, generally the males provide, the females have babies and peace and love prevail. Not like us humans, who somehow always manage to cock it up. My favourite painting would be the Kudu fighting. For me it depicts the powerful everyday struggle for survival against the backdrop of natural beauty as yet untouched by man. However, whilst I believe Tom painted the pair with the same respect he felt for stallions and tigers, if you were able to ask him now which of his paintings he felt depicted Africa at its best, I believe he would say Happiness, a small painting which he painted with a lot of love and understanding.
David Attenborough lived in our studio! His programmes, and others like them, would be taped and played over and over until I was begging for the adverts to come on. His capacity for wildlife programmes was truly mind blowing. However, there were many times when I was as fascinated and awe inspired by the antics of these creatures as he was, in particular baby elephants. Watching them playing with their own trunks, stepping on them and their expression of consternation at their predicament how to move forward when one's trunk is fully anchored under one's foot. I used to say if ever I was to have babies, I'd have puppies, but, after living with Tom, I wanted baby elephants. |
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