Target Tiger, watercolor, acrylic and molten wax on East Asian paper by Peggy Armand. All Rights Reserved. Tigers are endangered. According to National Geographic, there are only 3,500 tigers left in the wild. I decided to paint this tiger in its natural habitat, with a subtle bullseye at its center to illustrate their precarious situation.

I'm an architect by training, but my true passion has always been painting.

Self taught, I've only used watercolor for 20 years until one day I realized that it was no longer working for me. I was mostly reproducing pictures I’d taken while traveling around the world. It was no longer exciting to pick up a paintbrush. I was bored.

While traveling in Asia I discovered a wide variety of beautiful handmade papers. I came back with a few and started experimenting. It was like opening Pandora's box! I'm now using watercolor, acrylic and molten wax on these amazingly strong yet translucent papers and the possibilities are endless.

I'm no longer reproducing an exact likeness of the pictures. By keeping my subjects simple and using the technique I developed, my work is always refreshing, personal and intimate. Each piece is an exploration of color, space, contrast, and texture that creates a wealth of movement and emotion.

To enter the ENDANGERED Art & Photography Contest go to http://www.juriedartservices.com/index.php…

All entry donations go directly to the Center for Great Apes.