We're All Just Walking Each Other Home

Story

    I'm beyond excited to share this piece with you. I began thinking about it back in summer 2019 and started on it last winter. I aimed to finish by spring, however when the world shut down it became a rare opportunity to really sink my teeth into this creation. It served as a de facto time capsule: the multicolored background carries hues of California's many 2020 skies, from early pandemic clear to ash covered, The Orange Day to regular 'ole smoggy sunsets. Its concept felt worthwhile at the onset and grew more timely as the year's events unfolded; this piece was an exploration of the relationship between cooperation, abundance, and shared prosperity. Through countless hours of India ink pen strokes in the tundra wolf's fur and the raven's wings, layer upon layer of watercolor, research, observation, self reflection and finally gold leaf embellishment, I'm proud to share with you "We're All Just Walking Each Other Home."

   As for the story: did you know about the relationship between wolves and ravens? However different, these two hunters have learned to work together in the wild. Ravens will lead wolves to prey or kill sites, where wolves can take down animals too large for the raven or tear into carcasses too tough for their beaks. Ravens, being more alert than wolves, can serve as lookouts at kill sites to warn of oncoming threats. Wolf pups and ravens have even been observed to play together. We can learn a lot from these two, no?

   The different directions emanating from the raven, highlighted by various symbols, indicate points of prosperity and abundance. The lotus flower, ancient and able to survive the harshest conditions, produces beautiful, clean blooms daily with roots in the dirtiest waters. It's the perfect symbol of our growth and adaptation through continual mindfulness. 

    While I could type endlessly about the theme of this piece, I stumbled across a passage which encapsulates much of my intent: 

   "The guy on the right isn't much different than the hippie on the left. They act like they couldn't be more different but their economic circumstances couldn't be more similar and the reality is: it's the government and the lawmakers and the business owners that are setting them at odds, and we are getting lost in our ideological differences and are losing sight of the things that actually tie us together, and if we work together maybe we can change in a more meaningful way." -Edward Snowden

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