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Born on February 28, 1949, in Kowing Ton, China, Eric Forlee was destined to become a victim of Mao Tse Tung's Cultural Revolution. Between the ages of four and 14 Eric taught himself how to draw the scenes and objects around him. art became his passion - his major pastime. At age 14, Eric was listed as an enemy of the Chinese Communist Government, simply because his parents resided in another country ( South Africa). He was prohibited from further drawing or painting.
At the age of 19, Eric was sentenced to hard labor in one of Mao's concentration camps. After five years of misery, Eric and five others escaped from the camp and headed for Hong Kong. Two of his companions were shot and killed by Red Chinese boarder guards, and another was eaten by sharks during the eight-hour nightmare swim from the mainland. After escaping to freedom, Eric worked as a delivery boy, cook, waiter and carpenter. It took him seven years to save enough money to leave Hong Kong and visit his parents in South Africa. From South Africa he moved to Harare, Zimbabwe, where he found work is a supermarket. Eric was fascinated with Zimbabwe's countryside and wildlife - he began to draw and paint during evenings and weekends. Within three months after his arrival in Zimbabwe, Eric completed his first landscape painting; it sold within minutes of being displayed at a local gallery. Now he began painting in every minute of his spare time and everything he painted sold immediately. In 1982 he gave up his supermarket job to become a full-time artist. Eric's obsession with wild animals led him on a yearlong trek through African game reserves where he filled dozens of sketchbooks. As he once reflected, "Africa's animals are so free. I cannot help comparing the way they live to the years of my imprisonment in China. I still have nightmares about those days." His paintings of African wildlife are prized by animal lovers and art collectors. His work "captures the essence of Africa" and has a special three-dimensional quality that brings the subjects to life. Forlee sold his first wildlife painting in 1983, and since that time he has not departed from that subject. |
ALL PRINTS ARE SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY
 Bamboo Cat |
 No Fear |
 Siesta |
 Swift Hunter |
 Evening Glow |
 Zimbabwe Royal Family |
 Run Free |
 A Safe Distance |
 Masai Elephants |