Mama Warrior - Giraffe and Calf
- Savannah in Western Zimbabwe
In the early freshness of dawn, seeped in a subtle lightness of gold, the birds awaken leading with melodious symphony call, to the background hypnotic hum of a multitude of insects, that all want their say to greet the new day. The Mopane trees open their butterfly shaped leaves fully to dazzle in the zephyr, whilst the savannah grasses hardly sway. It is here that a young giraffe calf nestles against the warm flank of his mother, drawing comfort from the steady heartbeat that he has known from his beginning. He is beautifully enveloped in the sense of security and unconditional love from the towering figure beside him — his Warrior Mama.
She stands as sentinel over the savannah, her coat a patchwork of sun-scorched amber, shadowed rust, a gloss of copper, and each mark a story, a brush with a leopard’s claw, the leap of a hunting hyena pack, a drought survived. These are not just scars. they are stamps of survival etched into her hide by time, defense, ordeal.
Her eyes, dark and vast like the waterholes at dusk, scan the horizon constantly. Instinct runs in her veins. She knows the rustle of baboons and their tread, the ripples of crocodiles in the shallows and the silence before a leopard's accurate hit. She is always ready. Not with vocal response but with the silent power of her legs and neck, both capable of crushing bone with a single, deliberate strike. A giraffe defends not in noise, but in precision.
In the hush of Zimbabwe’s wild savannah the Mopane tree, a resilient survivor, provides shade, elephant food and traditional medicine. The beautiful Acacia tree is drought resistant with nitrogen fixing and soil regeneration capability. Whilst the Baobab tree, an enormous ancient sentinel and provider of the superfood nutrient, it also provides water, food and shelter for wildlife and humans. Here in the savannah, dry and hard before the rains and heavy earth scented after rain, the giraffe moves like thoughts — elegant, slow, but never still. The giraffe is a weaver of distance, a stretcher of silence. And in this amazing expansive landscape of sky and savannah, that I call home, the mother draws down, seemingly with impossibility, but she does so with exquisite balance to gently brush her soft muzzle against the head of her calf.
The calf alludes happiness, breathing in the savannah, a scent of grasses, a honeyed air from Acacia trees, wild sage and that special something that always feels like home.
Here, in this moment, life continues in the quiet and beautiful movement of Zimbabwe.
Background of the Artwork - Warrior Mama
Warrior Mama was born from a moment suspended in the wilds of Hwange, Zimbabwe. Here I stood witness to a primal, silent ballet between predator and the protector. For nearly half an hour, I watched as a mother giraffe defended her young calf from a shadow of midnight and gold, that shimmered and weaved back and forth in the dark shadow of Acacia trees and savannah veldt. Defending from a leopard, the master of camouflage, invisable, except for the ripples it stirred in those who sensed it.
Though I couldn’t always see the leopard, I could read its presence in the tension of the mother's body, in the trembling flanks of her calf. The two moved as one, united, instinctive, bound by something ancient and unbreakable. The calf, all legs and fragility, danced a silent ballet of survival, while the mother mirrored every ploy of the leopard with unwavering focus. She wasn’t simply defending, She was outwitting, anticipating, embodying vigilance, all carved in her through generations.
Giraffes are often seen as quiet sentinels of the savanna, but here, the silence was filled with a fierce undertone. I heard low sounds that were barely audible, passed on silent breath, between mother and calf. They were like an ancient language of warning and comfort.
And then, as if summoned by the drama’s own crescendo, Time intervened. The sun tipped toward dusk, and the moment, stretched tight as a drum, just snapped. Predator and prey turned away, the story unfinished but life preserved.
In my painting, I sought to capture both the delicate grace of the calf, new, exquisite and vulnerable, against the power of his mother, scarred and strong. Her flank speaks of survival; of countless days like this one, where instinct rose like a flame and love became armor.
MAMA WARRIOR - Giclée Limited Edition Prints - 35 - €353.95
I am donating 15% from the sale of MAMA WARRIOR Limited Edition Prints to Monitor Conservation Research Society, Canada, who are global;y researching, aiding against extinction and fighting to stop poaching and trafficking of animals and animal parts with a focus on the lessor or unknown species.
Coloured Pencil - Limited Edition Print 35
PRINTING INFORMATION - prices for EU and UK
60 x 37.5 cm (24 x 15 in) - Giclée on Fine Art Hahnemühle @ €353.95
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Set the width of the white border: from 1cm to 12cm (0.39in to 4.72in.).
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Prints are shipped unframed in appropriate heavy tube
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© COPYRIGHT Shirley Dunbar AFC
All artwork on this site is copyright of the Artist Shirley Dunbar
All stories and essays include the artist's own opinions, experiences, thoughts, ideas, imagination and creativity.