What inspires me - part 2 (a note on foxes)

You probably already noticed I have a thing for animals and plants. I’ve loved animals since I was a child (well, most children love animals don’t they?). I used to beg my parents for a dog (it was a hard no), but I did get a lot of goldfish and guinea pig. I collected posters, postcards and figurines of fluffy puppies, lions, cats, squirrels and more.

As I grew older, I still loved animals but not to the point of plastering my wall with pictures if them. Now, I enjoy painting them, especially foxes. They were a big revelation for me when I first moved to London; I had never heard of urban foxes and found out about them the hard way: by being woken up in the middle of the night by that horrible screeching sound they make. I had no idea what that sound was and briefly thought someone was being attacked and wondered whether I should call the police - not hearing anyone else disturbed by the sound made me realise I was overreacting. I asked my flatmates the next day if they’d heard it and they said “Oh yes, that’ll be the foxes”). Of couse. The foxes. Makes total sense.

I’ve since grown used to their sounds and frequently see them wondering the streets or setting up home in the neighbours’ gardens (or my garden - one of them chewed up my flatmate’s welly boot the other night) and I can’t help but be fascinated by how unafraid they are of humans. So yes, I’ve been painting a lot of foxes.

I love their luscious, bright orange coats and bushy tales. They look so mischievous yet so cute! It saddens me that the London ones often look unwell and basically live off bins and discarded chicken shop containers. Yet I admire the resourcefulness and resilience; they are truly remarkable creatures! Sorry for going all David Attenborough there but foxes really are fascinating creatures!

Any way thank you for reading my ramblings about animals; I will be talking about deer next!

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