I had never heard of a javelina until I moved to Tucson. The first time I became aware of them I was walking home with my cousin from our community pool. It was night and we had flashlights. I first heard the sound of a lot of little hoofs behind me. My cousin asked me “can you smell them?” I could. He started walking a bit faster and I followed suit. When we got to the front of his house we turned to see a large family of them across the street wreaking havoc on the neighbors row of potted plants. Are they harmful I asked? “They are very protective of their young,” he replied. I have since had many Javelina sightings, including in my own backyard. And although the adults are not particularly attractive the babies are strangely cute. So I came up with “What a Pair,” after seeing a couple of junior Javelina walking down our road with an adult right behind. Human or animal, we are all protective of our children and as parents keep a close eye. The background in this painting is from a photo I took in Sedona. I painted the Javelinas separately and introduced them into the scene.