Toshi Yoshida, Dead Branch

Notes: Pencil signed and numbered by the artist. Properly stored away in a folio and never displayed or handled. 'A watercolor held up by Toshi shows a herd of elephants gathered at night in a clearing in a wooded area on the savanna, the scene illuminated by the light of the moon. Several of the elephants were carrying branches of weathered, white wood in their trunks, putting them down next to whitened elephant bones. The entire scene was bathed in soft tints and mixes of blue, green, and gray. Toshi notes, "Sometimes the watercolor is better than the print. But not this one. In the print the colors have come out so much better." Dead Branch was rendered from an original night scene watercolor that Toshi liked so much. Elephants come the closest to Toshi's own vision of strength and peace.' - Nature, Art, and Peace; pg. 27-28 Elephants are known to bury their kin under leaves, branches and twigs. In order to properly mourn, elephants are said to congregate at the place where they have found the remains; a trait once thought to be unique to humans. Periodically, they will also return to the remains to pay their respects to their fallen kin.