Cute picture that evokes pleasant thoughts.

Superb and very much applause gorgeous work Carol!!

wow Carol this is really amazing, I am happy you made a wonderful art from it. This picture is taken at Olmense Zoo Belgium. That zoo came in a lot of problems and must close their doors. It is a long story but really sad. I will email you soon more details about it. I bet they like this art.

Outstanding work !!

Excellent work

amazing

So beautiful Carol and a lovely poem to go with it. Super painting work. 😀

oh!!! this is simply the sweetest little scene, ever!!! you did such beautiful work.

What an amazing piece of art, I love it. x

Very very nice !!!

precious

Outstanding work. God bless.

Amazing work. Very nicely done!

It's been a while since I commented in your as-always exceptional gallery, and I'll start with this, this morning, and then do more in the coming 2 days. I start with this because it's so different from what you usually post here. It's still animals done with your usual breathtaking sense of detail and presence; but the image is very much a child's image (in the best sense), it's a single child-like gesture, and it's also very photographic. On the latter, you always create heightened realism which has photographic elements for sure; but your enormous passions flow through so much of your animal and plant imagery, it takes them to a whole other reality, which is so different from 'photographic' reality. But here, despite the deep magic and enchantment, the image is more photographic than many of your others (in your gallery); and I was shocked to see it back in Dec, when you first posted it!

On the first point, it's an image for a children's book, or for the child in all of us. (A hackneyed phrase, but in your art, it's genuine, so I won't cringe, lol.) The strong photographic realism of the grizzly and the robin is---how do I say this? Because the meeting of the two is so doused in childhood magic, your utter realism and detail creates a contrast: A level of realism mixed with exquisite fantasy, which makes the fantasy 'real', as if you actually photographed such a moment. Did I explain that well enough? And it's a moment that I imagine has rarely if ever been photographed....And your poem is pitch perfect: Also written with children in mind: a simple, story-telling poem, with small simple thoughts and little meetings; delightful. It sets the tone for the actual meeting of the bear and the bird. The fact that they're young brings home the old, old folktale archetype that we look to the very young to transcend the walls and problems built by us adults...

But then there's the ground: With those special leaves and splotches of grass, you return to pure fantasy: Real enough, but with those undulations that so typify so much of your other work. So you have ultra real, in the bear and bird, and gentle fantasy in the ground. And then---whoosh---the background feels like a photograph that has been ultra-softened for a wonderful bokeh'd/blurred dreamy quality: It's a beautiful fleece-soft backdrop to the ultra detail of the animals. So (I hope this isn't getting pedantic!): You have 3 completely different styles here! And they really are separate---unusual for this gallery because you often have a massive oceanic force that permeates all your diverse styles in an image, which takes over and unifies everything in its deep cosmic energies. But here, you have 3 distinct styles, and they each complement each other (compl-E-ment--to complete, not flatter, lol; big difference).

Also, the dark tones in the background allow the light on the bear to really stand out (dark/light contrast). It's more of a photographic contrast---even straight 3D contrast---than is normal for your gallery. (I keep saying "for your gallery," btw, because I don't all you do outside your gallery.) The background has an almost glass/mirror quality, as if the 2 animals are in front of something painted under glass. Hard to explain it, it just has a magic all its own.

The meeting between the animals is delightful, the articulation is very delicate and very smart. And the effect is of a photographic manipulation which you turned into a digital painting. The detail on the bear and bird are awesome (as is the light and coloration.) Beautiful, charming and magical, and your poem is perfect for the child in all your viewers. (Whew. It was hard to explain all that, lol! I actually have an easier time talking about your pulsating cosmos pieces! This one is really complex and subtle!)

Wow, Mark. I have to say your comment blew me away, as do all your comments. To quote a great writer 'complex and sublime'. I did try to mix fantasy and reality in this work. It was inspired by a show I watched a while back, about unlikely animals who share a special bond. Something about the species mixing really intrigues and delights me. Friendship really does cross all barriers. Why do different species bond? Who knows, but it is so beautiful when it happens. Like two strangers meeting and that begins a lifetime together. My neighbor had a newborn son shortly before I finished this work, and when I told her I'd like to give her a print for her baby, and sent her to my gallery, she picked this one. I was surprised and pleased, because it made me feel good to think about this image giving him pleasure as he grows, and perhaps even showing him the wonder and possibilities in this world. For me, each piece of art I create feels like a newborn and I watch it go out into the world and have a life of its own. And so this work became a gift for a baby's room, and it also received the gift of your beautiful comment and observations. It is already giving me back more than I imaged and who knows what the universe has planned for that bear and little bird.