I don’t often pose with my murals, but I loved this one I painted for a chimp exhibit at the Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park in Tennessee.

That might be because I remember discovering this same pool in 1993 in the Monte Verde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica. I took photos of it while standing at the base of the third large tree from the left, looking toward the viewer. Years later in a pet shop, I stumbled across a panoramic photo taken by a professional photographer from the side of the pool opposite where I had stood, being sold as a terrarium background. I bought it immediately and compared it to my photos from 1993. Sure ’nuff, same spot! Until then, I’d never realized how much of an impression the architecture of a rainforest could have on my psyche.