Fundraising Project by Galen Garwood
From the Eye of the Elephant
Paintings by Ten Elephants
Aet, Umpang, Japatee, JoJo, Luang, Luukob, Pong, Prathida, Tao, and Wanalee
Poems and Essay by Galen Garwood
Published by MARROWSTONE PRESS
30% of the proceeds from the book
“have been dedicated, on behalf of the elephants,
to a human cultural project: the Akha Oral Tradition School.”
Book: ‘From the Eye of the Elephant’
In November 2025, artist, author, and poet Galen Garwood published ‘From the Eye of the Elephant,’ a charming new book of paintings – this time not created by his own hand, but rather by the trunks of the noble beasts he has championed for twenty-five years. Dedicated to renown elephant conservationist Richard Lair (1943-2024), this impressionable work highlights twenty-five artworks by ten elephants that convey a sense of harmony in their color-splashed abstraction.
To complement these paintings, Galen has contributed poems and an essay that reveal “man’s relationship to elephants in the way that we share a remarkably similar familial blueprint.’ His work, at heart, brings awareness to the plight of the majestic elephants of SE Asia, whose numbers are sadly dwindling.
Donation: to Cultural Crossroads Asia
Galen has chosen to gift 30% of ‘From the Eye of the Elephant’ book sales to CCA’s outreach project, the Akha Oral Tradition School, as a “symbolic exchange from elephant to human,” helping to preserve and nourish cultural heritage in ethnic communities of Northern Thailand and to develop awareness of the environment through story, music, and art.
There is resonance in Galen’s elephant project and Cultural Crossroads Asia – for both aspire to protect that which is precious before its disappears. The Akha students and master teachers of Northern Thailand are most grateful to Galen’s belief in the worthiness of the Akha Oral Tradition School.
