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Welcome! :-)

I see. I feel. I dream. I create. (Click this link for more info on Run for Rescue))

I created this page to tell Stories of Animals through Art.  These narratives have deep and powerful meaning to me and i hope they will reach others and give voice to those often hidden in the shadows of our busy world.


Thank you for visiting, may your time here move your heart and spirit in some way. Take time to reflect and explore, walk with the animals and share my world and theirs, for a little while.

This site is created with love and in hope; so know you are welcome here and the energy and intention is to nurture and protect, all who visit and all who bring this space on the internet to life, through their images and stories.

About four years ago I began to remove all animal products from my diet. As an ex-dairy farmer and hobby poultry breeder... my journey was filled with more than a fair share of excuse potholes and justification detours.

My gut instinct told me that animals were living feeling beings like myself and to do no harm is the basic guideline for a good and decent life.

However habit, societal norms, cultural indoctrination, willful ignorance, selfishness and downright human arrogance... these are powerful barriers to break through on the way.

More below....

I sought out mentors and guides, I took an online cooking course. But there was still a sense of holding back.

At the beginning of 2019, although I was eating plant-based...I didn't really 'get it'. I wasnt committed nor fully engaged. I was doing the 'good enough/that'll do and it doesnt really matter THAT much' journey.

I dont like half-measures, and i knew i needed something to push myself into a deeper more meaningful understanding.

My sons were overseas and i had just returned from a scholarship trip.

I sat alone in my house and knew what i needed to do.

I had one week home by myself- no one to see me cry.

I watched as many documentaries as i could find available to view online.

One after the other -

Dominion,

Earthlings

Lucent 

as well as 

Forks over knives

Peaceable Kingdom 

What the Health

Cowspiracy

And many many short Youtube clips.

One which has stuck in my mind is 

The White Cow, 

There is a link below - its only a few minutes- watch and maybe you will understand what happened to my heart, my mind, my very spirit and soul.

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I cried. I cried a lot. I was shaking and gasping with a pain that filled every atom of my body. It hurt to breathe. it hurt to think. I was traumatized and i was never going back.

One of my friends gently advised me to stop - that it was good to know and to witness but more than enough can be too much. 

I didnt listen at first- i pushed on- until i was sure i would never forget. Until i was SURE i could see, hear and feel the terror and agony of the animals anywhere, anytime, for all times.

Sure that i would not put my selfish choices over another being's life again.

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My son came home and i stated that i could not have animal food products in the house. I said i had watched a series of documentaries and i had seen things which had changed me forever.

He understood and we just got on with life more or less for the next few days.

But i was suffering- i burst into tears at the slightest thing. I was shocked, grief stricken, filled with shame and horror. 

I couldnt talk about what i had witnessed and how i had changed without breaking down in sobs.

Within two weeks my son was vegan too.

He simply stated (when i asked him why some time later) that he did not need to watch any documentaries and never would - he had seen what it had done to me and knew it had to be real and serious. 

I used to kill my own chickens and had strong views that anyone who ate meat should be able and willing to kill the animal themselves. I wasn't easily influenced or swayed and I was stubborn, strong willed and matter of fact. He knew the trauma in me was in response to a realization of a truth so awful and so overwhelming that it was completely and irreversibly life changing.

I still stated that in a survival situation I would hunt to live if I had to.

But I knew beyond doubt that what we are doing to animals in intensive/factory/modern farms ...live export and fast moving high output slaughterhouses....is wrong...incredibly, inexcusably, dreadfully wrong.

Over time I have deepened in my awareness and compassion for other beings and do what I can to practice "Do no Harm" in all situations wherever practically possible.

It seems the list is never ending and i experienced feelings of anger and frustration as i realised how many products i must avoid to follow a consistent ethical lifestyle.

Every day there seemed to be some new atrocity unveiled.

I went through a period of impatience and annoyance at having to constantly and carefully read food labels.

Now Vegan is just my norm, its a way of life and its reassuring not to be directly supporting violence and suffering.

I eat mainly whole food-plant based vegan diet without gluten or any processed foods. I avoid sugar and salt and my taste buds have grown to love the subtleties of natural and raw foods.

Below are a few of the types of goods that tend to contain animal products, along with their corresponding ingredients and the animals they come from:

  • meat (obviously)

  • soap: animal fat and tallow from various mammals

  • beer: Isinglass, chemical found in fish bladders

  • perfume: castoreum, from beaver glands located near their tails

  • plastic bags: chemicals called “slip agents” that come from stearic acid in animal fat

  • Downy: derivative of rendered farm animals

  • sugar: sometimes includes bone char from animal ashes

  • condoms: protein from animal milk acts as lubricant

  • nail polish: guanine from fish scales

  • crayons: animal fat

  • cake mixes: beef fat

  • red food dye: carmine, comes from red beetles

  • omega 3 fatty acids in juice and milk: from fish

  • bagels: L-cysteine, from bird feathers and some human and hog hair

  • instrument strings: catgut (despite the name, it comes from the intestines of sheep and goats, not cats)

  • hair on bows for string instruments: animal hair, usually horses

  • paint brushes: animal hair

  • (https://blog.publicgoods.com/what-are-animal-products-and-byproducts/ )

The suffering is real. It is immense. It is Hell on Earth.

Billions of animals are experiencing terror and agony at our hands. We are responsible for a horror that is beyond imagining. 

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The other thing which impacted on me was the discovery that fear and pain changes our genes - creates genetic markers which can be passed down through as many as 7 generations

If we are eating pain and suffering....what is the effect? 

High rates of anxiety and depression , heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure....

These things are massive problems in modern human society and they could all be markers of trauma- there could be many reasons ..but removing one negative variable is a very wise choice.

(To learn more - read about the Cherry Blossom mice- link below.)

In brief though: male mice were kept solitary and given an electric shock simultaneously with a burst of the smell of Cherry Blossom. They were mated with female mice who had experienced no fear or trauma stimulus. Then the male mice were removed- they never even met the resulting baby mice.....all who were terrified of the smell of Cherry Blossom. (No other mice received electric shocks except the father mice of the first litter of young.)

Not only that but so were their children, and furthermore their children and their children remained hypersensitive to the smell although perhaps not afraid exactly. Even after 7 generations some of the mice being born were still showing some response to that certain smell (although the effects were diminished)

Trauma can be passed on - eating it doesnt seem sensible or safe.

And modern farmed animals experience trauma - many throughout the entire span of their short miserable lives- crammed in crowded conditions. All who end up in a slaughterhouse are going to be put through something we would never wish on our beloved companion animals.

There is no difference in the animals we label food and the animals we label pets- they all have the capacity to experience pain and fear ( as well as joy and love).

When we know better- we do better.

THE ANIMALS STORIES

After a while the animals stories started to form in my mind as images.

And so i started to create Narrative Art.

Not all of the pieces I have on display here are true narrative art - but they all tell a story nontheless.

The Easter Lamb - 30 Pieces of Silver and

The Christmas Turkey - Betrayal 

are examples of the Narrative Art I am passionate about creating and bringing to you, the viewer.

They are complex pieces full of emotion and rich imagery.

I hope they do some justice to the Stories that I respectfully come here to tell.

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I am doing this for the animals. I hope through these images the animals will come forth and you will see them, hear them....feel them.

That you will know and understand.

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We do not need animal products in our diet to be healthy and happy.

At age 50/51 i ran 4 full marathons as a vegan ( 42,2km) to prove that the diet is adequate - not just for average lifestyles but also athletes.

Many world class vegan sportspeople at the top of their game, also prove it- far better than i ever could.

https://www.greatveganathletes.com/

It takes bravery to stand up against the established norms and status quo and take a path less travelled. I hope you will find understanding of why i chose this...and ultimately find your way on this path.

Go well my friend. Thank you for being here.

Vegan Health.jpg

Plant Powered

Fit at Fifty. Marathon Runner

Vegan food is delicious and healthy.


There is no reason to pay others to harm animals just because tradition, habit and social norms have legitimized the violence, cruelty and suffering. 

These days EVERYTHING can be made vegan - so you dont miss out.

There is vegan fashion and beautiful plant-based leathers.

There are alternatives to eggs, dairy, meat and fish. 

Its better for your health, the planet and the animals.

Dont just take my word for it- check out some elite vegan athletes and try it for yourself.

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