The Biodiversity Bestiary is the name for an art project I’ve decided to do as time allows this year. The premise is that I’ll choose my subjects off of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity that is used by governments, researchers, activists, and policy makers around the world for biodiversity conservation, protecting the natural resources, and informing conservation policy decisions. The list currently documents more than 150,300 species in need of protection to address threats to biodiversity, including more than 42,100 species threatened with extinction (41% of amphibians, 37% of sharks and rays, 36% of reef building corals, 34% of conifers, 27% of mammals and 13% of birds).
A bestiary is an illustrated compendium of animals, some real and some made-up, that was popular in medieval times. In 2019, I had the opportunity to see an exhibit at the Getty about bestiaries and view their collection of beautiful illuminated manuscripts. That exhibit has nagged at me ever since.
This Biodiversity Bestiary is grounded in concern that these essential creatures will soon be figments of our imagination, living only in the documents we create about them. But because this bestiary is also mostly just an art practice for me, the drawings will not likely be anatomically-accurate, will likely be whimsical (more consistent with kid lit art styles), and done in mixed media. Basically, even though preserving biodiversity is a serious thing, my drawings are not (it’s just practice, folks). I’m learning that I need good containers to make drawings on a regular basis — a sense of purpose plus a variety in prompts. I’ll post just a little bit of info I find during my research phases, so that you can explore that rabbit hole on your own.
I hope you enjoy!
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Franklin’s Bumble Bee
The heading above will take you to ICUN’s listing with information about the Bumble Bee, and here is Xerces Society’s listing for more information about their lifecycle and habitat. Here’s two links I found that provide tips for how we can help bees:
Thanks for bringing attention to endangered and threatened species.
I LOVE the bumblebees! So (as you said) whimsical! It looks like mixed media, yes?