WIP Stage two: True to my vision despite similarities

WIP stage two. Acrylic on 12x12 canvas. No title for this piece as of yet.

There are several images I've used consistently throughout the years such as a checkerboard, a fish, and figures in weird hats. Checkerboards, fish, and figures with strange headgear are also used extensively by an artist whose work I greatly admire. I mulled this over a lot and finally decided that since I was already using these images in clay and in watercolor over many years, and since my full intent is to create my own original vision, that it was OK to continue with them in paintings. So I put all three in this painting to challenge myself to use them and still present my own vision. I think I have succeeded. By the way, the fish has something the cat and heron both want--besides a nice fillet!