Watercolor, gouache and watercolor pencils on paper, 72” x 17”

This adaptation of a Zen parable, tells the story of a monk, here depicted as a woman, who while walking through the forest encounters a tiger. She runs as the tiger chases after her and comes to a precipice, where she catches hold of a vine and swings herself down over the edge. The tiger snarls at her from above. Trembling there, the woman looks down below, to find more tigers waiting for her to fall. Out of a crevice in the cliff, two mice appeared and start to gnaw away at the vine. I did not include the mice. The woman then notices a luscious strawberry growing within reach. She plucks the strawberry and, in that moment, relishes its deliciousness. Divine! How sweet it tastes!