"Pisces Koi" is a bold and intricate black-and-white ink piece that blends symbolism with fluid motion. A koi fish, known for its resilience and transformation, weaves through a bed of blooming roses, creating a contrast between movement and stillness. The fine details in the scales and petals bring depth, making the composition feel alive.
The upward motion of the koi echoes the legend of perseverance—where a koi swimming upstream becomes a dragon—mirroring the Pisces spirit of adaptation and ambition. The roses introduce another layer, possibly symbolizing beauty, personal growth, or challenges that shape us.
This piece captures a sense of quiet strength and fluidity, speaking to those drawn to themes of transformation, water energy, and the balance between struggle and grace.
I'm rather pleased with this one. Did you know that banner bearers are actually super important? In ancient battles, they stood at the front lines and used various signals to communicate the general's orders to the troops. There was an important battle between the Greeks and Persians in 480 BC. called the battle of Thermopylae. The Greeks were outrageously outnumbered. However, when a banner bearer accidentally dropped their banner, the other bearers thought it was the signal to retreat, and dropped their banners as well. The entire Persian army was routed by the significantly smaller Greek force. So technically this lady is much more important and powerful than any flashy warrior could be.
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)
Kant’s biography is unusually devoid of external events.
As Heinrich Heine wrote: The history of Kant’s life is difficult to describe. For he neither had a life nor a history.
In actual fact, as Manfred Kuehn argues in his 2001 biography, Kant’s life was not quite as abstract and passionless as Heine and others have supposed…. If he failed to live a more adventurous life, it was largely due to his health: the philosopher had a congenital skeletal defect that caused him to develop an abnormally small chest, which compressed his heart and lungs and contributed to a generally delicate constitution. In order to prolong his life with the condition—and in an effort to quell the mental anguish caused by his lifelong hypochondria—Kant adopted what he called “a certain uniformity in the way of living and in the matters about which I employ my mind.”
This routine was as follows: Kant rose at 5:00 A.M., after being woken by his longtime servant, a retired soldier under explicit orders not to let the master oversleep. Then he drank one or two cups of weak tea and smoked his pipe. According to Kuehn, “Kant had formulated the maxim for himself that he would smoke only one pipe, but it is reported that the bowls of his pipes increased considerably in size as the years went on.”
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
#dailyrituals #inktober #ImmanuelKant @masoncurrey
Water heals and purifies. It also kills and destroys.
Few symbols encompass both the life-giving and death-dealing properties of water as the sacrament of baptism, which represents both the passing of the old self and their rebirth as a new creature (Romans 6:3-11).
Here, the image of death & rebirth is also reinforced by a dragonfly motif; the dragonfly spends the first years of its life in the deep waters as a nymph, and is completely transformed into a new being as it rises to the surface.
Unlike butterflies, a dragonfly undergoes several molting processes after its emergence, showing that, while the creature is already made new, it is not yet perfected, and must grow in its new identity through what is called progressive sanctification.
The work's title refers to the Christian daimyo, Konishi Yukinaga, whose baptismal name is Augustine, and is the primary subject of this image.
"One may stray from the path of a man, one may stray from the path of a woman, but there is no straying from the path of a Human! All friends must scatter into the sky of truth, and blossom!, Okama Way!" - Bon Clay
It's a watercolor painting, the size is A4. I wanted to express some kind of serenity. Send me a message for any questions or more.
Follow me on my instagram page to be awared of the last productions :
https://www.instagram.com/loislow_art/
My black cats Fobbles,Beltza,Ruby and Kixxy (In her black cat disguise) enjoy some ice cream. Well, Fobbles purchased the 13 scooper special. Which comes as quite a shock to the others.
