Raging Bulls

"I like to paint for the story," says artist Joshua Spies. "'With Raging Bulls,' you can feel the power and the passion of these enormous animals. It's an intense scene." The locked tusks and tree-trunk legs of the massive bull elephants have raised a cloud of dust that adds to the drama of the battle. Joshua Spies graduated from South Dakota State University in 1996 with a degree in Fine Arts. His list of awards and recognitions is extensive, including the 2007 Dallas Safari Club Artist of the Year award and the appearance of his paintings in two major motion pictures. His travels take him across the globe in search of subjects great and small. "The best thing about doing what I do," he says, "is raising awareness. I like to show people something they might not see otherwise, to get them thinking about the larger world. My hope is that when they see these magnificent animals, the variety of wildlife out there, that they'll be more interested in preserving their habitats."