Nature's Splendor, As Seen Through The Eyes Of Painter Josh Keyes

Oakland California artist Josh Keyes looks like a pretty cheerful fellow and looking at his drawings and paintings, you'd easily think that he's a little on the green side.

His pervasive subject matter seems to be that of the encroachment of urban sprawl on the natural world.

So many of his scenes juxtapose regal symbols of Mother Nature with the concrete jungle imagery of our daily lives.

He seems to be a champion of the animals, helping them to break free from the chains of the so called modern, civilized world.

This series of three paintings (entitled Guardian I, II and III) seem to convey a creationism vibe intertwined with Mother Nature, perhaps suggesting that the two are really one.

Like a magic trick, the hands unfold to reveal the gift of a stunning landscape and foraging bear...

you snooze, you lose....now we've got deer and birds circling overhead. This just looks so cool to me.

With every step this buffalo takes, it restores beauty and renewal to the harsh urban city landscape.

Maybe this serves as a perfect reminder to everyone that balance starts with flora and fauna...and that development has quite possibly set us back far more than we ever bargained for.