Forest Guardian
Inspired by my time living in Japan and its traditions of forest guardians and spirits, this artwork imagines a protector of the Appalachian mountains. His great antlers cradle the forest itself, sheltering every bird, plant, insect, and fungus that depends on these woods to survive.
Like walking through the forest, if you look closely you’ll discover many lives tucked into the details. Hidden in this piece are 8 native plants, 10 animals, and 2 fungi—each one part of the balance that keeps the mountains thriving.
Can you spot them all?
Scroll down to learn more about some of the flora and fauna featured in this work and to see an entire list of all the animals, plants, and fungi.
Every creature and plant play a vital part
White-footed Mouse
White-footed Mouse
White-footed Mouse
By consuming fungi, they play a role in maintaining healthy trees helping forest stay strong.
Carolina Lily
White-footed Mouse
White-footed Mouse
Rare plants like the Carolina lily can serve as an indicator of the health of an ecosystem. This makes them valuable for scientific study and conservation efforts
Bumble Bee
White-footed Mouse
Copes Gray Tree Frog
Bumble bees are vital pollinators of native wildflowers in Appalachia, ensuring plants can reproduce and thrive.
Copes Gray Tree Frog
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Copes Gray Tree Frog
They help control insects like mosquitoes and serve as food for snakes and birds. Because they’re sensitive to habitat changes, they also signal when the ecosystem is out of balancechanges to their habitat affecting them first
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are vital to the Appalachian ecosystem primarily as effective pollinators. Helping to reproduce various native wildflowers and flowering vines like trumpet creeper and cardinal flower which in turn support many other forest species.
Passion flower
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Passion flower (or as we call them in the South Maypops) vital for the Gulf fritillary butterfly, which depends on it as its only host plant for larvae.
Did you find them all?
Here's the complete list of hidden life inside Forest Guardian
Animals:
- White footed Mouse
- Copes Gray Tree Frog
- Scarlet Kingsnake
- Raven
- Eastern Pondhawk Dragon Fly
- Ruby Throated Hummingbird
- Orb Weaver Spider
- Swallowtail Butterfly
- Monarch Butterly Caterpillar
- Bumble Bee
Plants
- Passion Flowers (Maypops)
- Water Lilies
- Carolina Lilies
- Lily of the Valley (flowers and berries)
- Pokeweed
- Rhododendron Leaves
- Witch Hazel
- Oak Leaves
Fungi
- Honey Mushrooms
- Chicken of the Woods