Reverie of the Bengal

Oil on hardboard, 12″×12″ (15″×15″ framed), 2025 — original, one-of-a-kind.

In Reverie of the Bengal, the artist captures a truly intimate moment of playful repose: a Bengal tiger, photographed from above at a Colorado wildlife sanctuary, rolls onto his back in a gentle gesture of trust. With a glazing technique refined over years, Hope Blakely layered translucent veils of oil paint over more than three months of dedicated work to build depth, luminous color, and subtle tonal shifts in the tiger’s fur and the rich surrounding dark ground. The result invites the viewer to linger — to discover the warmth of the stripes, the relaxed contours of the belly and underside, and the serene strength that lies in such openness.

The image is rooted in its origin: the sanctuary outside Broomfield (near the Denver metro area) where rescued large-carnivores live in spacious, thoughtful habitats. This setting allowed the photographer-artist to capture the tiger in a moment of natural ease — a memory of wild power softened into repose, now translated into oil with both realism and lyrical calm. While the piece is not professionally framed, it is very nicely presented in a ready-to-hang frame, making it gallery-ready for display.

As a collector’s piece, Reverie of the Bengal offers quiet elegance, narrative richness (wildlife sanctuary origin, personal photograph, glazing technique) and visual beauty that layers meaning behind the moment at hand. It’s a work designed for long-term admiration — a painting that invites contemplation today and remains resonant a century from now.