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"Animal Magic" Picture Business Dec 2002
 Jonathan
Truss's most famous image Siberian Siesta and the artist turned
elephant charmer Jonathan Truss defies the notion that you
should not work with awkward animals and messy children ?
and now he wants to tell the nation about it on TV. Jenni
Middleton finds out about his passion for canvas and camera.
You should suffer for your art, so the cliches tell us.
Wildlife painter Jonathan Truss is taking them at their word.
When he last made his annual three?week pilgrimage to Africa
to take photographs of elephants, he had to wade into some
deep water to get the correct reference. `When I got out,
I was covered in leeches,' says Truss. 'But the shot I got
was great.'
Truss's tales about the bush will never be in danger of extinction.
He's entertained classrooms, written in local magazines, and
is now attempting to venture into television with his mix
of funny anecdotes and fine art.
He brings the colours and the sounds of Botswana and Zimbabwe
to life on canvas. In "Water Babies", he captures the playfulness
of the elephants, and in his most famous image, "Siberian
Siesta", Truss creates a tension between onlooker and subject
with his skillful composition. Through the eyes of the beast
- part interrogative, part imploring - Truss relates the complexities
of our position and that of the tiger. As you look, you feel
both watched and the watcher.
There's a determination about this artist. He wanted a picture
of baby elephants playing in water. `After days of waiting,
we heard of a 10?month old baby 30km away. When we turned
up, it came running up to me,' he recalls.
In Botswana, Truss wanted a picture of elephants at water.
Despite the existence of 80,000 elephants, he had to wait
for three hours for the moment that inspired "Botswana Bulls".
Truss started painting in his lounge, surrounded by son
and daughter, wife Mel and the children she child minds. Being
immersed in his father's career has rubbed off on his son,
who has adopted a Jackson Pollock approach to the lounge carpet.
These days, Truss works in a purpose-built studio, physically
isolated maybe, but he's no stranger to the views of others.
`There's a lot of snobbery about wildlife painting being
just illustration, but it's my imagination that makes a
painting,' he says. 'I try to make the light and the composition
of the landscape interesting, but other than that, I am
not too literal. After all, if people want a photograph,
why don't they buy one?'
Truss is published by Solomon & Whitehead, who also publish
David Shepherd. `He is the king of colour and gets the atmosphere
into a painting,' says Truss. No wonder Truss has one of
his prints on his wall. `I couldn't have one of mine up.
I'd forever be taking it down and tweaking it,' he says.
Fortunately, for him, there are hundreds of people who feel
happy to hang his prints just the way they are. Around 250
customers have "Siberian Siesta" on their walls, and they
wouldn't change a stroke.
I get probably two or three emails about that print a week
from people who still want to get hold of it. One gallery
owner said he could have sold it out on his own. Another
bought six, and every time he put it in the window, he sold
it straight away.'
Click here
for a copy of the full article in pdf format
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Wildlife
Art Magazine August 2004 
Daily
Echo March 2004 
Artist & Illustrator (Nov 2003) 
