“The Beholder”

16x20in acrylic on canvas.

This is my take on Aesop’s fable: “The Cock and the Jewel”

The original story goes something like this: a rooster is searching for some food, and he discovers a valuable jewel! He says “if I weren’t a rooster, I would be a lucky guy - but because I’m a rooster, I would trade some grain for all the jewels in the world!“

This story is a good reminder that beauty and value are “in the eye of the beholder”. What you value may be completely different than me. That’s a part of the human experience! This story also reminds us that we can value things that are not worth our time and effort. This picture humbles me to re-center my heart on the things that I should be considering precious.

I thought it would be fun to change the story slightly to stress the juxtaposition. He’s now in a treasure trove, but all of his attention is on a juicy corn kernel!