Paul Pope - Batman Abstract Expressionist Art Commission

"Once, years ago, I saved the life of a wise old priest. Grateful, he made a gift to me of these few precious words: 'If you find yourself on a cliff side, trapped, with a hungry tiger waiting above, and a hungry tiger waiting below...and by chance, you spy a single strawberry growing from the cliff side, pluck the strawberry, bite into it and taste it.' We are on that cliff side...our lives are as fragile and as brief as a cherry blossom and as fragrant."

• Frank Miller, Ronin (Book 5, Page 3)

Last year, I finally got onto Paul Pope's commission list. After talking through a number of subjects, Felix Liu and I narrowed it down to two concepts: Batman in abstract or the aforementioned scene from Frank Miller's Ronin. On the one hand, I'm a big fan of abstract expressionism and I try to add pieces that have some of those elements (see some of my other pieces). On the other hand, I also want have some pieces that are personally meaningful. The story within the story that Frank wrote in Ronin spoke to me very personally; for me, the key message is to live one day at a time, enjoy one moment at a time and accept hardship as a pathway to peace. For Paul to blend the two subjects together, is nothing short of genius.

Thanks Frank for writing, thanks Felix for coordinating, and most of all, thanks Paul for making this art.