Hope and idealism struggles; a familiar futuristic greeting of "live long and prosper" from an idealized vision of the future (Star Trek) rings hollow when juxtaposed against the extinction of many of our planet's magnificent creatures; the last male black rhino in the wild died this past year, primarily due to poaching for their horns. The background of the painting tracks the disappearance one by one of these incredible prehistoric looking beasts who amaze us...and yet we cannot preserve them.