The Origins of Owl and Snake
Owl and Snake
The concept for the owl and snake relief print has been with me for a while. Last summer we noticed an abundance of snakes around our house (which makes sense as we live in a wetland) but they were really making themselves seen. One snake often basked on our front deck right underneath our door, and would even come there to shed- so occasionally we would find a snake skin waiting for us right at the doorstep.
When we were building here, and before the house was closed in, Ben would find snakes inside.
The owls have been making themselves known too- we often see Bard Owls and Great Horned Owls swopping about and hunting. At night we hear the Great Horned Owl often. For this image I chose a Barn Owl, which is not an owl I have seen about but something about the open face of the Barn Owl spoke to me when I was brainstorming this idea.
The snake and the owl were originally battling in the air, but through multiple sketches they came to this happy agreement that owl would be allowed to carry snake- as long as we all know that snake is, in fact, not dead.
There is a little story playing out here which I can’t wait to explore further.
Enjoy!
XO
gillian
