Painting parts - Eco systems at risk of extinction

​Euri Bartolome Vidal, Surefoot associate, has spent the past months painting endangered plants and animals in watercolour. Some of the illustrations are printed on organic and fairtrade t-shirts, and donations from sales will go to organisations that protect ecosystems in the Global South.

Euri shares the background and inspiration in the creation process.

​Kindred beings
I wanted to honour the biodiversity we are losing all over the world. I also wanted to make a connection between biodiversity and sustainability and the things we eat, the energy and the things we consume, and how we move around. 
 
I have chosen 8 regions and countries and for each of these one "protagonist" species with others around them:
- Iberian lynx, Spain 
- Nama dwarf tortoise, Namibia
- Black rhinoceros, Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa. 
- King protea, South Africa 
- Blue-bearded helmetcrest, Colombia 
- Chilean chinchilla, Chile 
- Blue whale (oceans)
- Giant redwoods, California. 
 
The art of connecting
Each watercolour tells a story in itself as it includes cultural elements of the countries the species inhabit. I am originally from Spain, and I have lived or travelled often in the African countries I chose. For the South American countries, I decided to get inspiration in the literature. For the blue-bearded helmetcrest, I chose imagery from the novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel G. Márquez. For the chinchilla, I chose novels by Isabel Allende, poetry by Pablo Neruda, and music by guitarist Víctor Jara. For the redwoods I chose cinema as a theme. The first illustration, the lynx, has warm colours in honour of Antoni Gaudi's love for nature and dark blue hues inspired in Picasso's famous war painting "Guernica". The dark blues represent our war against nature, a war that we will never win. The rest of colours represent the protection of biodiversity and the hope of a more sustainable future. 
 
To support my future work, I have made organic and fair-trade t-shirts with some of the illustrations. I also want to donate part of the proceedings to organisations in the global South to support ecosystems. The first paintings and t-shirts will be on display in a small exhibit space in Madrid during May-June.

If you want to know more about my work and the next species I will be painting, you can follow me on Instagram @ingozini, which sort of means "in danger" in several languages of Southern Africa.