It's only in the countryside that you find a gaggle of geese (Anseriformes Anatidae) roaming freely foraging for food. They are rarely seen alone, and that’s probably how their confidence developed, in safety in numbers. Geese don’t bite, just peck and they give out a loud cry when threatened. Their long necks make them look tall and confident. Geese seem brave because their ‘convex-lens’ eyes make them see everything as small, and so easy prey. Abdullah Ariff draws attention to the geese pack tucked inconspicuously in the bottom right of the painting where one is more awed by the overhanging branches on top and the bare land with clumps of vegetation. The geese seem to be heading home, as moisture is building up in the air. Artist-politician-cartoonist-teacher-advertising maven Abdullah Ariff is a leading art pioneer whose works are scarce in the market. In the 1950s, he boasted of solo exhibitions in Charlotte in the United States (Ownbey Fellowship Hall and Mint Art Museum) and the Malayan Embassy in Washington, besides being featured in the Le Salon Society of French Artists exhibition in Paris. In 1955, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art (FRSA) England. Abdullah Ariff, who served as Penang City Councillor in 1955-1957, has the distinction of having two adjacent roads in Air Itam named after him. Self-taught, he was one of only two locals accepted into the snobby Penang Impressionists coterie of expatriate artists. He had a stint as a cartoonist in the Straits Echo newspaper in the early years (1945-1947) and also an art teacher at the Anglo-Chinese School in Penang.