Conservation artist Karen Talbot with the Banggai Cardinalfish piece she did during the three days of MACNA in Dallas. Image: Ret Talbot.
Starting with a blank 4 foot by 4 foot piece of prepared wood, Karen Talbot worked three straight days at the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America in Dallas to complete this oversize painting of a Banggai Cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni. The painting was part of the huge event raffle Sunday afternoon and won by Steve Karakatsanis, a Canadian reef aquarist and member of the Marine Aquarium Society of Toronto (MAST).
Karen, of Karen Talbot Art, works with husband Ret, a CORAL Magazine Senior Editor and the lead author of BANGGAI CARDINALFISH: A Guide to Captive Care, Breeding & Natural History, the official publication of The Banggai Rescue Project. Karen’s illustrations will be featured in the book, due to be published in late November.
Karen completing the painting as throngs of MACNA attendees looked over her shoulder.
Others working on the book project include Dr. Matthew L. Wittenrich, Dr. Roy Yanong, VMD, Dr. Thomas Waltzek, VMD, Ret Talbot, Matt Pedersen, James Lawrence and the staff of CORAL Magazine. Dr. Gerald R. Allen, who rediscovered the species in 1994, is writing a foreword to the book.
The Banggai Rescue Project is being supported by donations from many individual and corporate sponsors in the marine aquarium world. For lists of all sponsors as well as recent blogs, visit the Banggai Rescue site.
To be notified when the book is ready to be published, sign up here.
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