Hope springs eternal, and the mythical saga of the firebird exemplifies the human spirit best, how one can emerge from the ashes of defeat, surpassing all odds, to triumph and persevere. Whatever the challenges, the raining of balls of fire from above like modern-day missiles of destruction, valour and righteousness do have happy endings. So the phoenix in us rises from the tragedy of fire from its very ashes. Raduan Man likes to push printmaking beyond the contemporary, in this case, woodcut, his favourite print material to the primary status of painting. Raduan Man is an artist first, sometimes a farmer and sometimes an animal breeder. Though bolstered with a double Masters (University of Wolverhampton (Painting) in 2003 and the Camberwell School of Art (Printmaking) in 2006), he had not taught on his return. He received his BFA from Universiti ITM (2000). His awards include the Juror's Award in the Tanjung Heritage competition in 2002. His first solo was at the NN Gallery called Fresh Markings in 2003.