An old woman has lived all her life in a cottage with a huge wave curled over it. Her roof is covered with a cluster of umbrellas to stop the drips. The wave actually loves the old woman, but she only bellows at it, scolding it for clumsiness when it splatters her or tosses fish to her. A passing traveler suggests that the wave could carry someone a long distance, but the old woman ignores this until her dog swims to the top of the wave. When she rows her little boat up to rescue the dog, she realizes how foolish she has been and learns to ride the wave instead of resenting it.
The intriguing collage paintings are just as whimsical as the story. The old woman looks tough, stubborn and cross, which she is—until the end, when she becomes a rapt, serene explorer, with her white hair streaming behind her in the wind. This is a fanciful treatment of the theme that it’s never too late to overcome prejudices, leap outside the familiar and unleash one’s potential.
