"before the journey on Damma's boat"  through Touteguero, Costa Rica. My brother Ryan, had taken a photo of this hand-made boat, he and his 70+ year-old river guide, would travel though this dense, dark, rain forest, with the sounds of the wild exotic birds, monkeys and occassional leopard in the background. When I first glanced at the photo, my eye caught the impression of a pair of eyes just at the top centre of the boat. I then noticed how the warm angled straw branches gave an effect of a camouflauge hair atop a native mask. It also formed an oval arch that framed the face with the boat covering up the nose and mouth. Sort of like a tribal mask of his face. Well, the more I turned and looked again at the photo, this impression continually stayed in my head. I actually had fun being loose and expressive, by letting my paint brush dance as wild as the glistening reflections, while contrasting with cold sillouetted borders.