Merry Squirrel

My girlfriend is absolutely obsessed with mushroom picking. The moment she spots an edible mushroom in the moss, the rest of the world fades away, and that prize simply has to be hers. Her passion once went so far that she snatched a beautiful mushroom right from under the nose of a very surprised squirrel.

In this painting, though, the squirrel is wearing a sly grin and carrying a bright red fly agaric. I see it as its little victory over my girlfriend. Luckily, humans don't pick fly agarics (or at least they shouldn't!), so the squirrel can finally be sure that no one will steal this prize. It’s nice to know that, in the end, at least something stays in the forest for the rightful owners.