This was one of the ancillary pieces of art I undertook during drying times for the larger work Tch'Kung. Both pieces feature Birds perhaps because my skylit studio in Richmond was in close proximity to Nature where birds would assemble. This is a rather somber piece I undertook to express my uncertainty regarding the evolutionary success of true wisdom. The yellow bird is a symbol I paint repeatedly, because a brilliant yellow canary was the only bird I ever kept as a pet. He was given to me by the owner because he was not singing under her care. Giving him a larger cage and removing the door made him much happier. He flew around our tiny urban apartment in Portland with complete freedom and sang as much as one could wish; he was my critical companion all day as I painted. His sudden death under another's loving care while I was out of town for a few days was a blow. This work explores an unreasonable and uncomfortable fear that 'twas freedom killed him. This situation was paralleled in real life at that time by the arrival of my son to live with us, fresh out of the military and back from Kyrgyzstan in a tiny window of freedom from service which opened up between wars.