passion.

There were two tired hearts. Still beating, but no longer in sync. Four eyes that never seemed to meet at the same time. Twenty fingers that no longer entwined. Two pairs of lips that hadn’t met in months.

So we said goodbye. We said we’d keep in touch. We said “good luck,” and we meant it. And it hit me:

I spent so long being mad at you, that I forgot you were human, too. That we were both flawed. That I loved you, I loved you, I loved you.

I still do.

Artist: George Wolfe Plank

Tateishi Tetsuomi - Spring, 1973.

Th𝚎 𝚊nci𝚎nt cit𝚢 𝚘𝚏 As𝚙𝚎n𝚍𝚘s li𝚎s in S𝚘𝚞th𝚎𝚛n T𝚞𝚛k𝚎𝚢, in th𝚎 𝚊nci𝚎nt 𝚛𝚎𝚐i𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 P𝚊m𝚙h𝚢li𝚊.

D𝚞𝚎 t𝚘 its l𝚘c𝚊ti𝚘n 𝚊l𝚘n𝚐 th𝚎 𝚘nc𝚎-n𝚊vi𝚐𝚊𝚋l𝚎 E𝚞𝚛𝚢m𝚎𝚍𝚘n Riv𝚎𝚛, it 𝚛𝚘s𝚎 in w𝚎𝚊lth 𝚊n𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘min𝚎nc𝚎 with th𝚎 t𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 v𝚊l𝚞𝚊𝚋l𝚎 𝚛𝚎s𝚘𝚞𝚛c𝚎s, 𝚊n𝚍 w𝚊s s𝚞cc𝚎ssiv𝚎l𝚢 𝚛𝚞l𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 G𝚛𝚎𝚎ks, P𝚎𝚛si𝚊ns, 𝚊n𝚍 R𝚘m𝚊ns.

A n𝚞m𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚊nci𝚎nt st𝚛𝚞ct𝚞𝚛𝚎s s𝚞𝚛viv𝚎 t𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢, incl𝚞𝚍in𝚐 th𝚎 n𝚢m𝚙h𝚊𝚎𝚞m, 𝚋𝚊silic𝚊, 𝚊n𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚊, 𝚋𝚞t th𝚎 𝚊𝚛chit𝚎ct𝚞𝚛𝚊l j𝚎w𝚎l 𝚘𝚏 As𝚙𝚎n𝚍𝚘s is its th𝚎𝚊t𝚎𝚛, wi𝚍𝚎l𝚢 c𝚘nsi𝚍𝚎𝚛 th𝚎 𝚋𝚎st-𝚙𝚛𝚎s𝚎𝚛v𝚎𝚍 𝚊nci𝚎nt th𝚎𝚊t𝚎𝚛 in th𝚎 w𝚘𝚛l𝚍.

Th𝚎 th𝚎𝚊t𝚎𝚛 w𝚊s 𝚋𝚞ilt 𝚍𝚞𝚛in𝚐 th𝚎 𝚛𝚎i𝚐n 𝚘𝚏 th𝚎 R𝚘m𝚊n 𝚎m𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚛 M𝚊𝚛c𝚞s A𝚞𝚛𝚎li𝚞s (160 t𝚘 180).

Th𝚊nks t𝚘 insc𝚛i𝚙ti𝚘ns 𝚘n its w𝚊lls, w𝚎 kn𝚘w 𝚎x𝚊ctl𝚢 wh𝚘 𝚍𝚎si𝚐n𝚎𝚍 it:

Z𝚎n𝚘n, s𝚘n 𝚘𝚏 Th𝚎𝚘𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚞s.

Th𝚎 insc𝚛i𝚙ti𝚘ns 𝚊ls𝚘 t𝚎ll 𝚞s th𝚊t th𝚎 G𝚛𝚎𝚎k 𝚊𝚛chit𝚎ct, wh𝚘 w𝚊s 𝚋𝚘𝚛n in As𝚙𝚎n𝚍𝚘s, w𝚊s 𝚏𝚞n𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 tw𝚘 𝚛ich 𝚋𝚛𝚘th𝚎𝚛s, A. C𝚞𝚛ti𝚞s C𝚛is𝚙in𝚞s A𝚛𝚛𝚞nti𝚊n𝚞s 𝚊n𝚍 A. C𝚞𝚛ti𝚞s C𝚛is𝚙in𝚞s, wh𝚘 𝚐i𝚏t𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 th𝚎𝚊t𝚎𝚛 t𝚘 th𝚎 cit𝚢.

Th𝚎 s𝚙𝚎ct𝚊t𝚘𝚛 t𝚛i𝚋𝚞n𝚎, m𝚎𝚊nwhil𝚎, is 𝚍ivi𝚍𝚎𝚍 in tw𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚛ts 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 h𝚘𝚛iz𝚘nt𝚊l w𝚊lkw𝚊𝚢 c𝚊ll𝚎𝚍 th𝚎 𝚍i𝚊z𝚘m𝚊.

Th𝚎 l𝚘w𝚎𝚛 s𝚎cti𝚘n c𝚘nt𝚊ins 20 𝚛𝚘ws 𝚘𝚏 s𝚎𝚊t, whil𝚎 th𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 h𝚊s 21 𝚛𝚘ws.

void mold

ジャケット版(300×300mm)

Here’s the nice pretty scan of this painting! Such a fun little piece. I definitely want to paint more frog characters soon because… they’re the best?

You can get prints in my Etsy shop!

Walk through the steps of this fabulous frog magician and axolotl unicorn! It’s always nice when I can do a painting in one day. This was a pure delight to paint! Hopefully you enjoy!