Monday, March 24, 2008

The Three Wise Monkeys





..................."See No Evil... Hear No Evil... Speak No Evil"

... there is discrepancy as to the origin of the "Three Wise Monkeys" ... it has been credited to either China, India, or Japan....

They are an amusing way to remind ourselves to think twice, about what we see, hear or say.....

.......Easier said than done...


A 4th monkey is sometimes included in other versions of this group.... "Do No Evil"...   use your imagination!


approx. size of each monkey in my version 1¼" x 1¾", ink. watercolor, brush, crow quill on 140 cp Arches wc paper

7 comments:

William Evertson said...

You decided to dress your monkeys - any comments on their natty attire? Nice post - I didn't know where they originated from.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh yes, the attire... I was inspired by the organ grinder's little monkey uniforms that we sometimes see in old movies or photos ... I thought monkeys wearing clothes were kind of cute ... makes them seem more human.... don't know whether that is a good thing or not when I come to think about it...to seem more human that is... might be a better world if we acted more like monkeys...

When I was young, I use to love, to dress up my cats and our Chihuahua ... don't think they liked it much though... but us kids thought it was hilarious

sandy said...

oH...these are adorable!! Love the monkeys.

Hey great idea how to envision that mansion on the hill! I could use all that room.

Thanks for your visit.

sandy

Anonymous said...

Really like these colors.

I had a bit of a rough time explaining this concept to Iris!

laura said...

Love these monkeys! I have a set of three Buddhas in the "see no evil" poses ... "Do no evil" is an intriquing idea: how to represent it?

Gwen Buchanan said...

hands in there lap... can denote many things...

Michael Pieczonka said...

like these guys, nice and whimsical!