“Flocking Around” 40 x 60 inches Acrylic on canvas. Limited Edition Giclee on canvas is Available. In this painting I wanted to convey a little insight into the vast and intimate concepts inspired by the subject which is at the center of most of my art... Having only a relatively short history, the ‘Koi’ has managed to earn the respect and dignity necessary to become recognized as a symbol of Strength and Endurance and Good Fortune in almost every eastern culture. Where as the ancient ‘tree’, from the beginning of recorded history, is regarded as a symbol of Life, Strength, Wisdom, and Regeneration in almost every culture around the globe. I thought, since sharing such a similar symbolic respect, it would be interesting to bring them together in a painting. By depicting the Koi as colorful birds flying freely among the graphic image of the tree arranged in the stones at the bottom of the pond, I would connect the worlds above and below the water’s surface as well as the many cultures and countries around the world they have touched. I included the Japanese Kanji for “tree” (which incidentally, also happens to mean “wood” in Chinese calligraphy) simply because the insightful visual design so beautifully depicts a deeply rooted and strong tree trunk with wide reaching branches. By painting what many consider to be an “Eastern” topic in a “Western” style, I like to think of it as a reach across the ocean and an example of how sharing and merging the best of what we have to offer can have such similar importance and benefit to all and to better understand how our beliefs and ideals can be so much different and yet so much the same. It is my intention to simply inspire consciousness, that perhaps if we were better able to see the many similarities of cultures and faiths around the world, we would be far less different. Limited edition prints for this 40 x 60 painting is available.