Wild at Heart (Special Project) | Zoe Schumaker

• Curious Bobcat

  Pastel, Paper, 14 x 11. Tufts is the WNC Nature Center's charismatic male bobcat. Born in May of 2023, Tufts was still a very young kitten when he came to the Nature Center. Like all kittens, he had loads of energy and…

• Hayla's Gaze

  Pastel, Paper, 18 x 24. Hayla is the WNC Nature Center's female cougar. She looked so regal in this classic feline pose, I imagined her on a high ledge outside of her cave home, surveying the valley below. What thoughts…

• The Princess and the Jester

  Pastel, Paper, 18 x 18. "The Princess and the Jester" features Nature Center's two charming bobcats, Kohana (regally reclining) and Tufts, with his characteristic playful, wide-eyed stare. Introduced while young, they a…

• First Snow

  Pastel, Paper, 20 x 16. Bonita is one of the WNC Nature Center's two red foxes. She was born in the wild but injured while still very young, losing her back leg. Bonita and her companion Samson (also missing a leg) are…

• Wild Hope

  Pastel, Paper, 18 x 26. “Wild Hope” celebrates the world’s most endangered canid — the red wolf. The WNC Nature Center is part of a breeding and management program that aims to save this handsome, intelligent and social…

• On the Lookout

  Pastel, Paper, 20 x 24. This painting features the WNC Nature Center's two charismatic cougars, siblings Noa and Hayla. Rescued as kittens, they relocated to the WNC Nature Center in 2024 when they were about one year o…

• The Fox's Gaze

  Pastel, Paper, 14 x 11. The gray fox is a small, forest-dwelling canid, with a thick salt and pepper coat, red fur accents, and a dark stripe down its back. The WNC Nature Center's gray fox, Remi was born in a Texas zoo…

• Wild at Heart

  Pastel, Paper, 20 x 24. Nova (left) and Wayah are the Center's iconic gray wolf siblings, born in Montana and relocated to the center in 2014. In "Wild at Heart", they stand resplendent in their thick winter coats, prou…

• Barn Owl Dreams

  Pastel, Panel, 14 x 11. While Boris often welcomes visitors to the WNC Nature Center from his high perch, Bela is shyer. In ‘Barn Owl Dreams’, they are pictured napping together, as siblings or mates do. Sweet dreams, B…

• Partners in Mischief

  Pastel, Paper, 15 x 11. Frankie and Grace — the Nature Center’s female racoons — arrived from Appalachian Wildlife Refuge in fall of 2023. Curious and playful by nature, they enjoy exploring their habitats’ tubs, tubes,…

• Phoenix's Delight

  Pastel, Paper, 11 x 14. Phoenix is the WNC Nature Center's male red panda, depicted here joyfully snacking on a bamboo branch. Phoenix is slightly smaller and darker than his companion Leafa, with a distinctive tufty ha…

• Leafa's Paradise

  Pastel, Paper, 14 x 11. Leafa is the WNC Nature Center's female red panda. The red panda is an endangered species, whose natural habitat is shrinking as forests are destroyed by logging and the spread of agriculture. In…