Kim’s story
Kim Brooks is considered to be one of the true pioneers to help wildlife art become recognised as fine art (Wildlife Art Journal 1999). Born in St Albans, England in 1936, Kim was a graduate in fine art at St Albans College of Art, although she is mainly self taught. Her images have adorned the front catalogue covers of world auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s where her paintings and sculptures have consistently exceeded their asking price.
Kim approaches her art with modesty and apparent ease, producing exquisite paintings of exotic endangered species of birds and mammals of the world, see her book Africa to the Amazon The Art & Travels of Kim Brooks that follows her extensive worldwide travels researching her subjects and their habitat.
In 1972. Kim had her first solo exhibition in Bond Street London, since then she has had successful exhibitions around the world including, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Antonio Texas, Nairobi. In 1979 Kim won first gold awards at the Wildlife Artist International Exhibition in Phoenix Arizona, following this she was England’s representative artist at the 1980 World Wilderness Congress in Johannesburg South Africa.
Kim has been a passionate fund raiser over many years, she states she owes her success to the animals and birds of the world, this has motivated her to pay back her debt to the many endangered species they can be found in her paintings.
In 1998, both Kim and husband Bill visited some of the most remotest regions of the Amazon River in Peru, they witnessed several raft like boats laden with full size tree trunks, the life blood of the forest on its way to the lumber yards and pulp mills, when returning to London they contacted the Rainforest Foundation, founded by the musician Sting and his wife Trudie Styler.
Kim and husband Bill invited a group of fellow artist around the world to support her in a fund raising exhibition in Mayfair London 2002. It raised some $150.000 for the Rainforest Foundation.
Kim’s desire to fundraise for wildlife has been established over many years . She states she owes her success to the animals and birds of the world. This has motivated her to pay back her debt to the many endangered species that are prevalent in her paintings and bronzes.
Africa to the Amazon
Africa to the Amazon is a book that showcases the work of acclaimed wildlife artist Kim Brooks as she sets off around the world in search of her subjects in order to study them in their natural habitat and environment.
Kim’s career as a successful artist spans some fifty years, and in following her journey the book takes you to some of the most wild and exotic regions on our planet Earth.
Starting her travels in earnest with husband Bill in the early 1970’s, Kim journeys to East Africa and crosses the Serengeti plains, with its abundance of wildlife and its vast panoramic scenery where one can see herds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra migrating in search of greener pastures. After crossing the border into Tanzania, we view the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact volcanic caldera in the world, which is reputed to stand higher than Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest point in Africa before it erupted), and look down on the crater lake teeming with flamingos.
The Okavango Swamp Delta in Botswana, South Africa is a haven of wildlife; an artist’s dream. The swamp water arrives via the Kalahari Desert and is virtually a hundred percent pure. As Bill and Kim camp on the banks of the Chobe River, we are able to observe a profusion of wildlife including elephants, herds of Cape buffalo, hippos, lions, leopards and cheetahs. One of the highlights is watching a pack of highly endangered Cape hunting dogs (also known as painted dogs) from close range. Insight into the area and habitat in which they can be found.
In recent years Kim Brooks art has been most associated with birds and animals of the tropics, particularly from the Amazonian Basin of Peru and Brazil, as Kim and Bill have carried out extensive research along the Amazon River travelling by boat from Brazil to Peru. The Pantanal flood plains is a wetland paradise in the far western edge of Brazil and extends to some 80,000 square miles and is home to over 600 bird species and 250 species of fish. As we travel along the waterways we catch a glimpse of the rare giant river otters. We also see caiman (alligators), anacondas snakes, and manage to get close up to the magnificent hyacinth macaws.
The book also covers Kim’s journeys to North and Central America, showing the resultant paintings and illustrations, accompanied with information about her subjects.
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