Tag: wolves

Cristina Penescu

Cristina Penescu, Scratchboard Illustrations

Cristina Penescu was born in Bucharest, Romania, 1988. Her family relocated to California when Cristina was a year old. Cristina has experimented with a variety of mediums and styles and recently has made the transition to realistic wildlife art, which she feels has always been her true calling in life.  Cristina is has had no formal training and is a self-educated artist. She has experience working in a variety of mediums, however she prefers acrylic and scratchboard. Her artwork is very detail oriented and she aims to bring the viewer an up close, intimate look at nature. She recently was accepted as a Signature Member of the world-renowned Society of Animal Artists. Cristina is also a member of Artists for Conservation and the Marwell International Wildlife Art Society.

Scratchboard is a little known medium made up of a 1/8″ masonite panel that is covered with smooth white clay and coated with a fine layer of india ink. The artist uses a sharp knife to scratch every single detail and hair by hand. A single scratchboard piece can be made up of tens of thousands of tiny scratches layered atop one another.

Odin, the Allfather

Artist Unknown, “Odin, The Allfather, with His Ravens Hugin and Munin, as Well as His Wolves Geri and Freki”

In Norse mythology, Geri and Freki (Old Norse, both meaning “the ravenous” or “greedy one”) are two wolves which are said to accompany the god Odin. They are attested in the Poetic Edda, a collection of epic poetry compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the poetry of skalds.

In the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, the god Odin (disguised as Grímnir) provides the young Agnarr with information about Odin’s companions. Agnarr is told that Odin feeds Geri and Freki while the god himself consumes only wine:

Freki and Geri does Heerfather feed,
The far-famed fighter of old:
But on wine alone does the weapon-decked god,
Othin, forever live.

Barry Lopez, “Of Wolves and Men”

Barry Lopez, “Of Wolves and Men”, 1979, Scribner Books, 320 Pages

Of Wolves and Men reveals the uneasy interaction between wolves and civilization over the centuries, and the wolf’s prominence in our thoughts about wild creatures. Drawing on an astonishing array of literature, history, science, and mythology as well as considerable personal experience with captive and free-ranging wolves, Lopez argues for the necessity of the wolf’s preservation and envelops the reader in its sensory world, creating a compelling picture of the wolf both as real animal and as imagined by man.

Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary

Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary, PO Box 877, Montgomery, Texas, 77356

Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary (SFWS) is a registered 501©(3) nonprofit charity in Montgomery, Texas, run by volunteers and created to provide a permanent home for non-releasable wolves and wolfdogs to live out the rest of their natural lives safely and comfortably with loving care and attention.

Wolves are born in the spring, so this year Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary will be holding our first ever “Birthday Celebration for the Wolves” on Saturday, April 18, 2015 between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm. We invite everyone to join us for a fun, family-friendly experience. Please inquire about visiting. For information: info@wolvesofsaintfrancis.org.