Talking of Painted Elephants II

Today started off with writing about irresponsible news reporting and has become Sprismatic's Elephant Day! Well I can't end Elephant Day without sharing a final image with you. I've chosen this one because it is by one of my favourite inspirational artists, Philip Shadbolt.

Ganesh by Philip Shadbolt

For me, Philip's work oozes fun and down to earth spirituality (my favourite sort).  His work is far wider than beautiful representations of Hindu gods, but as I began to sign off from the blog I felt the need to  pay a quieter respect for the elephant and remembered this photograph on his site.

African elephant by Arno & Louise Creative Commons

And finally, to end Elephant Day at Sprismatic, an African elephant living it large in the wild. Life isn't easy for the horny males there either. Once they realise it's coming up to their week for mating, they have to find a female heard. They then have to follow the females for days and prove they're fitter than any other male elephant in the area. The elephant: powerful, intelligent and persistent.