 |
      
 
|
Douglas Aja
AFC
African Wildlife, Elephants, |
|
|
|
| |
In the late 1990s Douglas Aja began sculpting and casting his pieces in bronze, combining his lifelong interests in African wildlife and art. Though he is interested in all African wildlife, having sculpted giraffe, cheetah and ostriches, his favorite subject is the African elephant. Many of his elephant sculptures are of known individuals from Amboseli National Park, that were made famous through countless books and films. These elephants have been studied since 1972 by Cynthia Moss and her Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) www.elephanttrust.org. His sculptures have included the large bulls, Dionysus and Bad Bull, the old matriarch, Slit Ear and one depicting a fight between Dionysus and another huge bull named Iain. He has recently completed a sculpture of one of the worlds best known elephants, Echo (made famous in the three Echo of the Elephants films and most recently Unforgettable Elephants) along with a young calf. Doug has been a longtime supporter of AERP as well as Joyce Poole's Savanna Elephant Vocalization Project www.elephantvoices.org. A large portion of the sales proceeds are donated to these two organizations. In 2005, Doug began showing and selling some of the photos he's taken over the years. The photos are reproduced in both color and sepia toned.
Traveling to Africa for the first time in 1978, Doug took part in a wilderness education program with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). There he studied wilderness and mountaineering skills, outdoor leadership, minimum impact camping and Kenya's culture. He continued to stay involved with NOLS, by helping to support it's scholarship program for East Africans, until the Kenya branch closed in 2003. Recently he has partnered with former NOLS instructor, by assisting in promoting, organizing and guiding safaris. www.CAfricanAdv.com.
Doug has been living and working in Vermont for most of his life, and enjoys playing basketball, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and kayaking. He visits East Africa regularly for inspiration and to further his knowledge and understanding of his subjects. He often backpacks on Mount Kenya, through Maasailand and has climbed Kilimanjaro.
His bronze elephants are in the private collections of elephant researchers Cynthia Moss and Joyce Poole as well as wildlife film maker Martyn Colbeck.
The Art of Conservation Exhibition, Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell, NJ: 2008, 2009
Wildscape Magazine Award, Editor's Choice Runner-up, 2009 for "Final Warning"
Society of Animal Artists Annual Exhibition, The Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI: 2008
Art of the Animal Kingdom, Bennington Center for the Arts: Bennington, Vt: 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009
Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008: Semi-finalist, "Portrait of Echo"
Southern Vermont Arts Center, National Fall Open Exhibition: 2006, 2007, 2008
Helen Day Art Center, Annual Members Show: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Featured Wildlife Artist: "The HeART of Wildlife Defense" Bill Jordan Wildlife Defense Fund. Madison, Wisconsin, 2005
Group show: Holland & Holland Art Gallery, New York City, 2003
Chaffee Center for the Visual Arts, Annual Members Show:
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Connie Smith Memorial Award, 2003 for "In His Prime"(sculpture)
Merit Award, 2005 for "Portrait of Echo" Photograph)
Wild Wings Art Festival: Minnesota 2003
|
Support for Conservation:
2009: October; Fundraiser for Elephants and ElephantVoices with Dr. Joyce Poole. Presented by the Los Angeles Alliance for Elephants. Donated bronze elephant "Battle Weary". Donated photographs; "Echo" and " Through the Shaddows".
2008: October; Fundraiser for Elephants and ElephantVoices with Dr. Joyce Poole. Donated bronze elephant "Echo & Calf".
Collections:
- 2009 - Bennington Center for the Arts
Final Warning
- 2006 - Martyn Colbeck
In His Prime
- 2002 - Cynthia Moss
Wallow
- 1999 - Joyce Poole
Empathy
|
|
|
| |
|
Direct Correspondence to:
Douglas Aja
c/o
1895 North Street
Montpelier, Vermont
USA 05602
Tel: (802)229-1011
|
 |
Email: dougaja@comcast.net
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
