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OPS Feature Artist
Inspiring conservation and awareness through art
OPS is often approached by artists around the world seeking to contribute to both OPS’ mission and public awareness about issues such as wildlife conservation, climate change, and protecting oceans and marine life.
In response, we are excited to launch our inaugural ‘OPS Feature Artist’ partnership program that will feature a different artist on a rotating basis. Approximately every quarter, OPS will highlight the work of a profiled artist, showcasing his or her artwork to motivate and ignite the activist in each of us.
OPS believes in the power of art and imagery. By featuring the amazing artwork of ‘artivists’ around the globe, we are committed to inspiring individual action and fostering collaborative solutions to the planet’s most pressing issues.
All media and artistic platforms are invited for consideration. Contact us to become the next OPS Feature Artist.
Mahdhav’s work is not intended to be a portrait of an animal; instead his mission is to convey a glimpse, a momentary pause from the life of that being. Together with an original piece of emotionally charged poetry, a voice is given to this moment, to this soul.
His palette draws inspiration from eastern wisdom of the Auras, reflecting emotional energy and signifying our vibrancy of life. This influence highlights the unifying force or soul that resides in all beings, transcending the physical form.
Using this combination of original poetry and richly visual artworks, he hopes to explore the deeper connections that run spiritually, emotionally and experientially between all beings; with a goal to help motivate a new perspective of care, awareness and respect for our planet’s wildlife.
As a self-taught Artist and advocate, Mahdhav desires to rekindle the connection between our environment, wildlife and us. Tackling challenges of conservation and eco-harmony, he aims to portray the lives around us as a part of us; in the same way that we are all part of what Ancient Greek teachings term Gaia: the complex living being that is Mother Earth.
His true love and admiration for nature and wildlife stems from his childhood in Kenya. From there it was carried forward as he migrated from Africa to Australia, then to the United Kingdom and back to Australia, where he currently resides in Sydney. These life shaping moves coupled with an enthusiasm for traveling and exposure to a great assortment of countries, cultures, local landscapes and wildlife have truly helped motivate his work, keeping his spark and passion for the environment ablaze.
With a strong and genuine aspiration he wants this world to truly thrive, to be ripe and abundant with its natural curiosities, ecosystems and fruitfulness of life. The way it has always been designed to be.
All artwork featured here is available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of all artwork featured on his site will go directly towards supporting the mission of OPS. Each and every purchase helps to make the work of OPS possible! Each sale includes free worldwide shipping, print, poetry, and certificate.
To see Mahdhav’s other creations, and to order your limited edition prints, click here.
LOCATION: HWANGE NATIONAL PARK, ZIMBABWE
African Bull Elephant
These tusks they are his legacy,
But they are not all,
For in his grandeur he is more than ivory.
In prehistoric poise and with a thunderous perfection,
He rumbles in content for he is his own protection.
A gallant soul his presence echoes,
Felt by all, even the smallest geckos.
His armour is thick, his step is soft,
With a mind that is sharp he keeps his head aloft.
Through seasonal cycles,
And seeing lives recycled,
The journey has been a challenge but he has earnt his title.
This weathered warrior’s skin is cloaked,
With feats of wisdom and might his tale he wrote.
A true testament to countless generations of gracious giants,
He stands with a life and being, that is more than science.
In him there is a true serenity,
One, which makes him a wondrous entity.
Drawn to his grace and charm,
This celestial being calls with a magnificent calm.
Like the moon to mother earth’s pull,
Your heart is fixed until you get your full.
And as an encapsulated flurry of fluttering wings orbits this sentient soul,
We see the true gravity of an African giant is not just two tusks but the whole.
Original: Oil on Canvas
Limited Edition Print Size and Pricing
33.0 x 25.8 inches $300 USD
23.4 x 18.0 inches $175 USD
12.0 x 15.5 inches $125 USD
LOCATION: GREAT BARRIER REEF, AUSTRALIA
Hawksbill Turtle
The earth spins as its axis roll,
While for decades long he plays his role.
He swims calm on waving forms,
Offering food and shelter to tangs and all.
For his wrinkled skin and hardened home,
Are the place from which he was born to roam.
A buoyant balance of life and form,
He is gentle yet he swims on strong.
A full life filled with pasts long gone,
Is what was destined in his song.
But now as times grow unclear,
Will the young ever be free of fear?
A dark time finds us now,
When we lose lives for life-less things.
His home is taken by want for wear,
Without consideration and with no care.
And by thoughtless nets, once-used straws and heating swims,
Their world is changing beneath their fins.
The perfect life he has enjoyed.
This too, which should be their gift,
May have taken a downward shift.
For as waters rise on innocent cries,
The air feels less and less, more like lies.
With lifted head and an uncertain stare,
Its time for us to show more and more care.
For at this time if this issue you clasp,
You will unfortunately see a future generation’s gasp.
Original: Oil on canvas
Limited Edition Print Size and Pricing
23.4 x 23.4 inches $200 USD
16.5 x 16.5 inches $175 USD
LOCATION: INDIAN OCEAN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Silky Shark and Pilot Fish
Together they watched the growth of the coral seas,
The elements that were forged like underwater stones and trees.
Theirs is a bond of unspoken unity,
One born of a natural and mutual harmony.
Each has their role,
Their duty to the other.
It helps keep a balance destined by the mother.
There was no sign nor call to side,
It somehow seems they have always been there for the ride.
We are a team,
Even if it may not look like it at the seam.
We’ve travelled far upon the open flow,
Tropical waters washing over our gills, the way your cool winds blow.
We did not mark on a dotted line,
But it is still known that they are friends of mine.
They keep me company,
Sometimes two or three, sometimes many.
Navigating, traversing and swimming with ease,
My striped shadows and I co-pilot the seas.
Original: Pencil on Paper
Limited Edition Print Size and Pricing
23.5 x 18.2 inches $175 USD
15.8 x 12.0 inches $125 USD
LOCATION: TASMAN SEA, PACIFIC OCEAN
Tiger Shark
The ancient ones will whisper tales of open seas,
Of deep blue clears and sunlight spears.
The ancient ones will whisper tales of salted freedom,
And of roaming reefs.
They’ll fill you with amazement and awe,
And have you brimming bright with wonderment light.
The ancient ones will whisper tales of oceanic balance,
Of a world of harmony and respectful symbiosis.
But now as they glide past with a synchronicity of form,
With personal experience and character marking their beautiful bodies,
They whisper differently.
Now the ancient ones will whisper tales,
Of greedy hands, careless minds, steel blades and stolen swims.
How long shall they have to whisper?
Before we speak?
How long will it take,
To see more than fins and shiny teeth?
Original: Oil on Canvas
Limited Edition Print Size and Pricing
33.0 x 22.0 inches $275 USD
23.4 x 15.4 inches $165 USD
16.5 x 11.0 inches $125 USD
LOCATION: ARCTIC CIRCLE, CANADA
Polar Bear
I am alive and pure of heart,
I carry forth my role and do my part.
So step-up to the plate and do your duty,
Use all of your might to protect our beauty.
From seasonal hibernation’s I’ve always set,
With an instinctive plan for what comes next.
With every cycle I’ve awoken,
I’ve arisen to roam and grow with a new vision.
Like the cyclic motions of our heavenly lunar and solar,
My precious life revolves around the polar.
This rhythmic life placed northbound,
I follow its call both above and below frozen ground.
But new uncertainty lurks in patters of tides,
Unknown and relentless, they remove chances for strides.
I can swim but I am not aquatic,
And as these ice sheaths drift; my calm it does become chaotic.
When will I rest or be earthbound?
These marathon swims are an unholy battleground.
Glowing like mystical gold in a rippling form;
Let my future existence not be a hazy mirage, out of the norm,
Seen, yet never experienced by new generations at all.
An echo,
A memory,
A lifeless summary.
As a momentary pause before dusk is seen,
The sun goes down over horizons leaving only a fading beam.
But will it rise?
Or will it stay in slumber?
Will my kind dwindle to a single number?
We have the choice to slow the earth’s ice from melting,
Because even though it melts with nature;
Its heightened pace is drawn by man’s greedy wager.
For what’s been caused is isolation in desolation,
There’s not much left of my population.
With eyes fixed on the creation and inflation of your great nations,
You’ve lost touch to media and political manipulations.
To survive and progress purely,
You’ll have to look back to nature, for your spiritual liberation.
Original: Oil on Canvas
Limited Edition Print Size and Pricing
33.0 x 27.2 inches $320 USD
23.4 x 19.5 inches $185 USD
12.0 x 14.6 inches $125 USD
LOCATION: KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA
White Rhino
From dark markets in mystical lands,
From ancient scrolls forged by unknowing hands;
From the farthest reaches you’ve set these snares,
Sent in poachers to make me rare,
Luring in locals with minimal shares.
Promises strong, placing coin in palm,
You’ve left me in a state of complete disarm.
I cannot prepare; I cannot repair,
When those metal shells shake this clean pure air.
Its too late, you’ve brought warfare,
And it is unjustly and devilishly unfair.
To grind it down and reduce it to dust,
It isn’t done for need, rather an uneducated lust.
Simple keratin like hair and nails,
If you’re seeking to gain powers like gods;
Using this you will only fail.
Your search has not been proven and it does not stand true;
In fact you had nothing to do with me,
The one on whom it grew.
I doubt you’ve even experienced me and yet you come to claim my symbol,
It shows my might, my power, and its mine that is official.
I use it to forage, fight and protect with pride,
To shelter and defend my innocent youngster’s delicate side.
It has a place and that is only with me,
So shift your minds and leave me untampered and free.
I want to roam, I want to grow and I want to live,
So please, let me be.
Original: Pencil on Paper
Limited Edition Print Size and Pricing
22.4 x 16.8 inches $175 USD
15.8 x 12.0 inches $125 USD
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