Each month, AFC recognizes an artist for their strong commitment to conservation through art. This month, AFC salutes Doug Hiser.
Doug Hiser works with the Houston Audubon Society, the Houston Zoo, and local nature centers and refuges, painting murals of the local species and habiatats to educate and inspire the public. Recently Hiser has painted Turtle Sculptures for Galveston and Jamaica Beach, the fifty foot 88 bird Audubon Operations Center at Smith Oaks Rookery, the Raptor and Owl flight enclosure murals at the Raptor Center in Houston, the Namibia Cheetah Conservation mural, and the 100 Birds of Texas Mural.
Doug Hiser is an author of 25 books, including Amazon bestsellers, The Honey Bee Girl and Montana Mist. He is also a professional wildlife artist traveling the globe, from Africa to Australia, in search of the wild beasts that he paints. Teaching High School Arts, after years of research, he has developed this art history program featuring 4 x 4 sketches and the backstories of over 100 artists. Hiser works closely with the Houston Audubon Society and teaches workshops and demos in and around Texas promoting the conservation cause. He once claimed fame on the America Gladiators TV Show and is most proud of his University of Houston Distinguished Alumni Award.
Doug has been an artist all his life and always loved animals. He was fascinated by the zoo and captured and chased any animal as a youth in Santa Fe, Texas, until in 2009 he made the decision to concentarte his art on Wildlife, - mostly endagered wildlife, = to promote awareness and interest in our vanishing natural world. He is self taught with a distinct stylewithout trying for photorealism.
"Nature. The Natural World. Everything before man came and covered with concrete and steel. I am truly alive in the natural world, the jungle, the mountains, the forests, the places where all our millions of different species thrive. This is the world I strive to live in and use my art to illuminate and share with the many people of the world who revere this natural animal world the way I do. I create with paint, ink, graphite, sculpture, collage, anything not nailed down, to bring an awareness of the beauty and diversity and conservation issues of Planet Earth’s wildlife. Doug Hiser Professional World Wildlife Artist, Painted Jungles. "
He volunteers his art and his time with many organizations commited to conservation. The Houston Audubon Society, speaking at events, showing art and creating awareness of the migratory birds of the Texas Gulf Coast. They raised funds for the Houston Zoo and the Okapi foundation to preserve these animals in zoos and in Africa.
"Highlighting the African Elephant by painting a mural that hangs in the Houston Museum of Science. My students and I teamed up with the Houston Zoo to create 32 endangered species murals to hang in the Education Center of the Zoo. I headed Zoofari murals for the summer camp of the Houston Zoo. Former member of the Armand Bayou Nature Center and I continue to work with art shows and Earth Day demos for youth at the center. I am a naturalist and wildlife guide, touring internationail wildlife photographers during Featherfest Galveston's large birding migration festival each year."
