Jungle Eyes: The Fine Art of Carol Cavalaris on T-Shirts Available Through Allposters and Amazon

Beauty, comfort, daring, elegance, and functionality blend harmoniously in T-shirts that showcase the fine art of Carol Cavalaris. Carol considers art and nature powerful generators and sources of emotional, physical, and spiritual health and power. She draws upon fine art backgrounds in oil painting and modern cyberspace possibilities through digital mediums to detail the lush colors and survivalist motions of wildlife. Carol emerges as an artist particularly adept at communicating deep truths through small parts. For example, she focuses upon extraordinary Big Cat eyes in her Spirit of the Wild series. The popularity of five sets of feline eyes peering out from bright green ferns is evidenced in their translation into fine T-shirt art as “Jungle Eyes.”

Tiger eyes beautify the T-shirt’s upper-right front. The carnivore in question (Panthera tigris, “white-yellow arrow”) counts among animals categorized in 1758 by Småland-born Swedish ecologist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778). The tree-climbing water-lover demands:

• Big prey;
• Dense vegetation;
• Water.

Tigers therefore frequent:

• Birch and coniferous woodlands;
• Deciduous and evergreen forests;
• Mangrove swamps;
• Tall-grass jungles.

From dusk to dawn, they hunt:

• Deer;
• Elephants;
• Fish;
• Indian bison;
• Monkeys;
• Rhinoceroses;
• Wild pigs.

After 103-day gestations, females produce 1 – 7 offspring that attain:

• Head-and-body lengths of 74.80 – 122.05 inches (190 – 310 centimeters);
• Independence at 1-1/2+ years;
• Sexual maturity at 4 years;
• Tail lengths of 27.56 – 39.37 inches (70 – 100 centimeters);
• Weights of 143.3 – 674.62 pounds (65 – 306 kilograms).

Black panther eyes decorate the mid-right and upper-left front. The name generally functions more to designate by color -- than to identify by taxonomy -- members of the Panthera genus and the Pantherinae subfamily. The genus has as members:

• Jaguars (Panthera onca);
• Leopards (P. pardus);
• Lions (P. leo);
• Snow leopards (P. uncia);
• Tigers (P. tigris).

The subfamily additionally includes:

• Clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa);
• Sunda clouded leopards (N. diardi).

The name panther further is applied to such non-subfamily members as:

• Cougars (Puma concolor), which also get called catamounts, mountain cats/lions, painters, pumas;
• Florida panthers (P. concolor coryi).

Although predominance of dark-colored pigments most famously produces black jaguars and leopards, all of the above-mentioned big cats may exhibit melanism.

Ocelot eyes dominate the lower-left front. The “lion-panther leopard” (Leopardus pardalis) figures among fauna classified in 1758 by Småland-born Swedish physician Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778). The tree-dweller has the Anglicized version of the Nahuatl word ōcēlōtl (“jaguar”). Up to altitudes of 3,937.01+ feet (1,200+ meters), the water-lover inhabits:

• Mangrove, primary, secondary, and thorn-scrub forests;
• Marshes;
• Savannas.

Ocelots nocturnally pursue:

• Small amphibians, birds, crustaceans, mammals, and reptiles;
• Spawning fish.

After 80+-day gestations, females produce 1 – 3 offspring that attain:

• Head-and-body lengths of 25.59 – 38.19 inches (65 – 97 centimeters);
• Independence at 1 year;
• Sexual maturity at 2+ years;
• Tail lengths of 10.63 – 15.75 inches (27 – 40 centimeters);
• Weights of 18.74 – 35.27 pounds (8.5 – 16 kilograms).

Jaguar eyes embellish the lower-right front. The “panther-jaguar” (Panthera onca) numbers among mammals identified in 1758 by Småland-born Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778). The tree-climber prioritizes:

• Dense cover;
• Large prey;
• Water.

Up to elevations of 12,467.19 feet (3,800 meters), jaguars therefore reside in:

• Deciduous/evergreen forests;
• Grasslands;
• Wetlands.

Indigenously named yaguareté (real/true beast), they nocturnally stalk:

• Birds;
• Caiman;
• Deer;
• Fish;
• Frogs;
• Monkeys;
• Sloths;
• Turtles;
• Wild pigs.

After gestating 95 – 110 days, females produce 1 – 4 offspring that attain:

• Head-and-body lengths of 44.09 – 72.84 inches (112 – 185 centimeters);
• Independence at 1-1/2+ years;
• Sexual maturity at 3 years;
• Tail lengths of 17.72 – 29.53 inches (45 – 75 centimeters);
• Weights of 125.66 – 249.12 pounds (57 – 113 kilograms).

Jaguars and leopards can be confused. Descriptions of the “panther-panther” (Panthera pardus) occur among wildlife taxonomized in 1758 by Småland-born Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778). The tree-climber prioritizes:

• Diverse prey;
• Yearly rainfall of 1.97+ inches (50+ millimeters).

Up to elevations of 17,060.37 feet (5,200 meters), leopards therefore reside in:

• Coastal scrublands;
• Deserts;
• Grasslands;
• Rainforests;
• Semi-deserts;
• Swamps;
• Woodlands.

They nocturnally target:

• Antelopes;
• Arthropods;
• Birds;
• Elands;
• Hares.

After gestating 90 – 105 days, females welcome 1 – 6 offspring that attain:

• Head-and-body lengths of 39.37 – 74.80 inches (100 – 190 centimeters);
• Independence at 1-3/4 years;
• Sexual maturity at 3 years;
• Tail lengths of 27.56 – 37.40 inches (70 – 95 centimeters);
• Weights of 66.14 – 154.32 pounds (30 – 70 kilograms).

Art cannot be found just decorating public buildings, filling museum shelves, or hanging from walls. T-shirts do not serve only as undergarments to be kept white and to be worn during work and under uniforms. T-shirts by any color function nowadays as versatile outerwear whose relevance far surpasses that of attractive, comfortable, intelligent, reasonable clothing. The transfer of “Jungle Eyes” by artist Carol Cavalaris onto T-shirts available through Allposters and Amazon realizes the apparel’s multiple possibilities regarding:

• Accessible information;
• Modern advertising;
• Portable art.

Where else will viewers and wearers find such beautiful “cheat-sheets,” such environmentally-related publicity, and such people-friendly aesthetics as Africa’s and Asia’s leopard, Asia’s tiger, and America’s jaguar and ocelot together on one T-shirt front?

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

High Country landscapes: Carol Cavalaris lives in a forest in Colorado's High Country.
Colorado High Country: Crooked Creek Road on the Sulphur Ranger District, Arapaho National Forest: U.S. Department of Agriculture, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons@ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arapaho_National_Forest_2010_USDAgov.jpg

Tiger (Panthera tigris)
Wild Animal Sanctuary, near Keenesburg, Weld County, northeastern Colorado: oddharmonic, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/oddharmonic/11004007254/

Melanistic jaguars retain their spots.: Ron Singer/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Public Domain, via USFWS National Digital Library @ https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/5355/

female black leopard (Panthera pardus): melanistic leopard
Zoo d'Amnéville, Lorraine Region, northeastern France: Tambako The Jaguar, CC BY ND 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/3846901328/

ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)
Tom Smylie/US Fish & Wildlife Service: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ocelot.jpg

jaguar (Panthera onca)
Jaguar subspecies Panthera onca palustris (Ameghino, 1888) inhabits The Pantanal, world's largest tropical wetlands and flooded grasslands, located in Brazil's Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul states, Bolivia and Paraguay.
female Pantanal jaguar; Piquiri River, The Pantanal, Mato Grosso State, West Central Region, Brazil: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaguar_(Panthera_onca_palustris)_female_Piquiri_River_2.JPG

leopard (Panthera pardus) mother and cub
Mala Mala Game Reserve, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Lowveld, Mpumalanga Province, eastern South Africa: Brian Fitzharris (TheWanderingAmerican), CC BY-ND 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fitzharris/14216309814/

bashraum. "Carol Cavalaris" (1:44). YouTube, June 4, 2008, @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAK4V0VFF3E

The Art Of Carol Cavalaris, via Facebook June 25, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/133636773376037/posts/2590800054326351/?type=3

Carol Cavalaris lives, five miles from Black Hawk, in a forest in Gilpin County in Colorado's High Country, a landscape of 14ers ("fourteeners": mountains peaking over 14,000 feet [4267.2 meters]).
14ers aplenty: Leadville area, about 80 miles (128+ kilometers) southwest of Black Hawk: Zach Dischner, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/zachd1_618/8421203825/

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