"When exhibited at the National Museum of American Art, Achepohl was making gorgeously colored watercolors from angled, nearly abstract forms that somehow echoed the solidity of classic architecture without literally restating it -- except for openings that revealed an expanse of blue sky, establishing depth and distance... Achepohl does not like his art to be called semi-abstract, but that is what it has been until the recent series of paintings. His expressed intention is to bring the ancient world back to life, and to give us a sense of being at one with it... As an example of an artist whose life is a journey of exploration rather than a one-way trip to fame and fashion, Achepohl is a special treat. " Jo Ann Lewis, Washington Post, April 1987

"The wishing trees of Turkey prompted the paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture ... While wandering through Turkey, I often came upon sacred sites near mosques as well as roadside caves and small designated sites on trails where trees became bearers of wishes simply by being hung with strips of cloth torn from personal clothing. The idea of an exvoto, a message carrier, a wish transmitter has been present in many cultures for centuries. To see trees laden with pieces of cloth, talismans torn from the body in hope of a healing, of a grant giving, a forgiveness is to see layers of these wishes given to time to play with since the pieces of cloth are removed, transformed, disintegrate only be natural forces. I have seen tree branches so heavily laden they needed bracing as well as trees newly designated with only a few pieces of cloth attached. It is hard to divorce the strip of cloth from the idea of a strip of skin and not sense the most potent meaning in the act of attachment to these trees. In summer the trees seem to bloom with the colorful cloth among the leaves. In winter the trees assume an altogether ethereal quality. Most cultures seem to have had the need, the medium through which to hope, give thanks, seek help. The Turkish wishing tree provides a simple, eloquent means." Wishing Trees by Keith Achepohl