“Teamwork”

18x24in acrylic painting on canvas

I’ve been wanting for some time to stretch myself to paint storytelling with my whimsical style. I believe this is the best way forward for my artistic future. A concept that has been in my mind equally as long has been “Fables Retold”. We are all familiar with Aesops fables -the tortoise and the hare being among the most poignant. But what if I put my own playful spin on it?

That is where I have landed with this painting. What if, instead of competing against each other, they were working together? This changes the dynamic completely. It speaks to a concept very familiar in the Bible of “bearing one another’s burdens”. While this tortoise is carrying the sleepy rabbit, who knows, maybe said rabbit will return the favor?

 In case you didn’t notice, there is also a subtle homage to Southern California. The “hare” is a jackrabbit, and the tortoise is modeled after a desert tortoise, and the setting is the Anza Borrego desert. I’ve personally seen both creatures out there, so in theory, they just need to learn to work together… haha!