Few artists working today are able to capture the magnificent drama and beauty of wildlife with such stunning realism as award-winning artist Cliff Bonamie. The power of his art is a reflection of his inborn talent, his professional training and his deep feeling for nature and the environment. He grew up in northern Michigan and understood from his early days that he could "live off the land." His love of nature encouraged his interest in painting wildlife.
Cliff's art career began while attending college in Michigan where he earned his fine arts degree through an athletic scholarship. During the course of his studies he created commercial wildlife art for magazine covers and other publications. He and his wife, Julie, started a family during this time and raised three children... Nathan, Aimee, and Ambre.
His first solid income producing artwork was done as a muralist for a sporting goods company in Gainesville, Florida. He was employed for over two years painting the factory walls that were part of a public plant tour. The murals consisted of North American animals in various mountains scenes. These murals were viewed by thousands of outdoorsmen who visited the world famous museum.
Upon completing the mural project Cliff worked for a local screen printer creating University of Florida college graphics. During this time he discovered how interesting the t-shirt market was and the potential to use the medium for wildlife art. In 1986 the family came together and formed Silkmasters, Inc., A screenprinting company that sold apparel nation wide. Selling and marketing Cliff's wildlife art screen printed on all types of garments.
Cliff's work has won industry awards in each year of Silkmaster's business. He is highly respected by his industry peers for not only creating salable wildlife graphics, but using his expert computer skills to prepare award-winning screen print separations and other usable types of digital media. His main objective now is to produce high end wildlife paintings.
Licensing is not new for Cliff. Currently, he holds licenses with companies that manufacture candles, coasters, paper products, mugs and international t-shirt printers.
Cliff's research and recreational adventures range from the depths of the rainforests of Central America and the African wild to many of the natural habitats of North America, remote Canadian regions, tropical Caribbean islands and the natural wonders of Alaskan glacial and mountain regions.
"Nature is a spiritual experience for me. To try to recreate that experience is my passion in life and in my art."
