If you know my work, you know of my love of natural history and the tradition of hunting and fishing that goes along with it. A few years ago I reached out to Simon Clode the man behind Westley Richards since the 90s. At the time when I reached out, I did not exactly know that who I was reaching out to. I sometime message people on Instagram and that's what happened here. I loved the new photos of fantastic hand made rifles with the most fantastic engraving ever. One fun detail, the first rifle that my father had me hunt with in Tanzania was a Westley Richards! So when I write of tradition it seems to be engraved into our family. I was having a show in London so I messaged whoever was running the account on Instagram to perhaps get a quick tour of the shop. To my delight they invited me and my wife for a visit and even pick us up at the train station in Birmingham. When I asked who it was I was communicating with I discovered it was Simon, the big boss himself! What happened next was a treat. It was not just a quick tour of the facilities. It was an in depth tour and history lesson of WR. I was in heaven! I think for about the next few hours we got to see just about everything. I highly recommend a visit to their fantastic shop. Sadly a year or so later Simon lost his battle with cancer. A few years later they reached out and suggested that maybe we start this campaign which I am very happy to announce here! I will provide a link below. We wanted to both share our love of tradition and hunting. Couldn't as for a better company to work with, the quality in which they approach all aspects for WR is over the top. Each painting painstakingly researched, studied and figured out was pure joy. I love my subject and work and I hope for you as an audience we can share in our enthusiasm for the Natural World and the wonderful wildlife that abides there. Thank you for taking a look! 

Here is the Link to see what is happening over at Westley Richards:

https://shorturl.at/z3oSy

or 

https://www.westleyrichards.com/theexplora/the-golden-era-of-safari-re-imagined-by-american-artist-nicholas-coleman/

https://www.youtube.com/@sparksofgratitude

We Believe in The Power of Gratitude Our gratitude practice has changed our lives. It hasn’t solved all of our problems or spared us from hardship. But it has changed our perspective, which helps us endure life’s challenges. We make mistakes. We’re affected by forces outside our control. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of us. Even so, life is SO GOOD. We can be grateful that while many vacation plans have been cancelled, we are healthy, we have time with each other, we have work, and we have hope. We can count our blessings each day. There are many, if you look for them. Meet Cathy Cathy’s passions are constant learning and lifting others. She was born in Santiago, Chile, and moved to Utah at 12 years of age. She learned English in Jr. High and was so deliberate in her language learning process that you would never know that she’s not a native speaker. As an adult, she realized that all of the world’s knowledge is at her fingertips. If she wanted to know something or learn how to do something, she could find it in a book. She’s never without a book. She’s constantly reading (listening) to books and implementing what she’s learned. Nothing can hold her back. Cathy has a way with people because she loves everyone, and they can feel it. She thrives on lifting those around her. Meet Randy “But you’re the nice one!” – Randy’s sister’s response when he told her he was going to law school. Then he told her it was so he could deliver peace of mind through estate planning and it all made sense to her. Randy is passionate about many things – a huge passion is tennis (admittedly more watching than playing). Randy travels the world to watch his favorite pros compete (Rafael Nadal is his favorite). Randy is married with three children and the Sparks family motto is “Experiences Over Things.” The Sparks family loves to travel to experience new places and things together. If Randy isn’t talking about tennis or travel, he is talking about his cycling adventures. He logs thousands of miles per year on his road bike (and sometimes mountain bike), and prefers to go where the road points up. Thank goodness for Utah’s mountain roads. Unfortunately what goes up must come down. Randy has been known to show up at work with road rash or a fractured clavicle. When the snow falls, Randy turns to the slopes and supports his children on the Sundance Ski Team, reliving his teenage ski-racing days. In between doing all of the above, Randy is a voracious reader (listener of audiobooks), and is always trying to broaden his knowledge by hearing what the authors have shared with the rest of us. Randy is also fluent in Spanish. Randy has lived in Texas, Northern Virginia, and Chile studied abroad in Spain and Jerusalem and traveled all over the world. But his true home is here in Utah. WWW. RANDALLSPARKS.COM