Branching Out

Please Advise: As this Furcifer Verrucosus does appear to be morphing in and out of a plant like state, I do not want to perpetuate a common misconception. Chameleons do NOT change color to blend in with their surroundings. They change colors to express emotion, ward off other chameleons in their territory, and to court potential mates. They have special layers of pigmented skin cells that change to create an array of beautiful colors that vary from species to species. This guy was inspired by the Furcifer Verrucosus that reside in the Anosy region of South East Madagascar. SCIENCE!

Forest Guardian

When I see the environmental issues facing us today, part of me is not surprised at all. Since man became the industrious species we are today, we have separated ourselves from "nature" starting at a young age. The "environment" is some distant place where exotic flora and fauna reside. Why worry about Polar bears on melting ice and endangered butterflies that are in some far off land? We need not worry about those things, as we have made our own world among our rigid, structured, controlled little bubble.
That seems to be how we see things as a society. The truth is we are are completely a part of the natural world that we have distanced ourselves from. There is not some place or any boundaries that separate us from nature. We are not only a part of it but we are dependent on it. Everything we have made in our giant, billowing, concrete, structured human world (that continues to grow) comes from the ground on which we stand. We teach our children to carry on with this trend and that they will not be judged by how they fit in with nature but how they will profit off of its exploitation. We must teach our children that they are as every bit a part of the land as the trees and creatures that surround us. With this piece I tried to convey the connection everything has, and that there is a future we must consider and protect.
Pen on wood
4 x 4 feet