PAINTING THE ACCUSER

Helping Rhinos Patron and award winning artist Karen Laurence-Rowe has donated her latest stunning image - The Accuser for auction at the 'Shades of Grey' event in London on 15th March.

Read below in her own words how Karen came to paint The Accuser, and be sure to watch the video of Karen painting the amazing black rhino at the bottom of this page.

"If you remember, last year, Jonty Hearnden did a fantastic job of auctioning 'The Last Three' at the Helping Rhinos event in London where we managed to raise a whopping £19,000 for my painting depicting the last three Northern white rhinos in the world.

This year however, I wanted to draw attention to something just as important - that being the Ol Pejeta Conservancy's very successful Black Rhino Breeding Program, which I believe, is one of the most successful in Africa today!  But with Africa's rhino numbers still dangerously low, the Black Rhino still needs all the help we can give it,  so it was this species that became my chosen subject matter. "

"As I confess in my video, I find painting rhinos a real challenge! For as much as their prehistoric, unpredictable and elusive nature is always a thrill - trying to do justice to a massive bulk on extraordinarily shaped legs and a couple of menacing horns, has always been hard for me to get a handle on! But a recent experience of a rhino charge where I managed a hastily taken photo of an incensed animal as it almost connects with my car, inspired my latest painting... an animal that was accusatory, angry and a force to be reckoned with! And let's face it - rhinos have plenty to be angry about when it comes to the barbaric and ruthless rhino horn trade!"

"It should be no surprise that the painting of 'The Accuser' was an emotional response to the needless deaths of an ancient and magnificent species dangerously close to extinction. As custodians of this planet, we can stand by and helplessly watch the poaching continue, or find a way to help... painting for conservation is how I try to make a diffence..."