The art of
Robert Louis Caldwell
Robert Louis Caldwell
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"Before and After (Zebras)"Oil on 1/2" maple panel
16 x 12 in 
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The idea for this painting emerged one evening while I was sketching a zebra that I had spotted near the Silale swamp road in Tanzania, Africa. It was actually one of many zebra that I had seen that morning during a zebra “traffic jam.” The road next to Silale swamp runs pretty straight along the edge of the marsh, and the zebra were using the road as their route to a watering hole. As far as you could see, the zebra were nearly stacked one on top of another like dominoes, but they were kind enough to open a path so that we could drive through the herd. We slowly made our way to the head of the column as the zebra continued their journey, hardly paying us any attention at all. I seized the moment to capture reference photos from different vantage points and lighting angles but this particular scene, with the zebra just slightly turning its head so the morning sun warmed the front of its face, spoke to me. As I look at it, I can remember the sounds of hundreds of zebra moving through the grasses. It was an amazing sight to see.