Some pieces I started working on today…. Not sure how either one will end up. Both are stitched on Vintage Linens.
Buy these! YOU CAN PURCHASE MY WORK IN MY ETSY SHOP >
Some pieces I started working on today…. Not sure how either one will end up. Both are stitched on Vintage Linens.
Buy these! YOU CAN PURCHASE MY WORK IN MY ETSY SHOP >
Hi Maria, I read on one of your friend’s posts that she found a snake in her washing machine, called you, and you went to her house and gently removed the snake for her. So, I get the feeling you are not squeamish about snakes. Snakes also appear in your art on a regular basis. Friendly snakes. You didn’t grow up on a farm, so how did you come to have such kindly feelings towards snakes?
I’ve always loved animals Janet, and snakes are a part of that. I know many people who have a fear of snakes. I respect that. But i find them beautiful myself.
Maria, you are making art out of snakes. It has been done throughout history. Why, I wonder, do snakes have a negative historical connotation? When I was in my teens, a friend invited me to travel with she and her family to Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. From there we took a day trip to a snake farm, I don’t know why her parents thought we might find them interesting. Since then, while I’ve never liked snakes, I still can remember the revoltingly warm and pungent odour in their barn. Revolting to me. I can’t see a snake to this day without that olfactory memory coming back to me. So, why the preponderance of snakes in art throughout history, I wonder.
SandyP in S. Ont., Canada where it’s turning into autumn today.
I love this “snakes piece!” I guess it is because I enjoy snakes—non poisonous ones of course. I find them to be quite interesting. I guess it is because when I was a young girl I went to what was known as sleep away camp in the mountains of Santa Cruz, California. I was a member of the nature club when I was there. We had a pet snake (I don’t remember how it became our pet, but it was) whom we named Henry. He was a beautiful black and white California King Snake. These snakes are quite helpful to the environment because they will eat unwanted creatures such as rats; I’ve been told they even kill rattlesnakes. Since I have never researched their eating habits, I’m not sure about these facts. I do know that Henry was not slimy, rather he was soft to the touch and his muscles were fascinating to watch as he moved along.
We fed Henry (mice) and he lived for some time that summer. He was not cold; the body temperature of snakes reflects that of their surrounding environment. He was gentle and we were able to hold him or let him rest on our shoulders. Henry was a great snake whose gentle behavior taught us not to be afraid of snakes. My fellow nature club members and I were terribly sad the morning we found him dead. Henry taught me a lot and in his memory I named my current Sheltie, Henry.
So many children grow up afraid of reptiles which I think is terribly sad. They are fascinating creatures.
As a matter of fact many individuals who live in urban environments are afraid of wild creatures, probably because they see so few. One day a neighbor called me to come over to help. There was an animal in their bushes that wouldn’t move. It appeared to be sleeping (a dead giveaway in my book)and her children thought it was a dragon! I should come quick. Her husband kept poking it with a broom and it still wouldn’t move. What should they do? I told her to leave it alone, and I’d come over. Knowing what I would find, I raced up the hill, went into the yard and playing dead in the bushes was, of course, a possum.
I told them to leave it alone and it would go away when it was ready. It was playing dead as a means of self defense. These are long stories, but I guess they illustrate the joys inherent in the appreciation of nature. It is why I am so envious of you and Jon in the special place in which you live. To live in and walk hand in hand with a natural environment is truly a gift. To be able coexist and appreciate the natural world is something special at least that is how this city kid sees it. Have a wonderful day.
Thanks for your story Jane. My grandparents had a pet snake. His name was Snakey. I’ve always liked them too.
Thanks Maria, I hope what you and Jane have written will plant a seed in me to relax a bit when I see a snake. It’s just cultural conditioning to be afraid. So thanks.
I think for some people it is cultural, but it seems that some people have a true phobia about snakes. it sometimes has to do with the way they move. I’ve heard that snakes and spider vibrate at a different frequency that is disturbing to some of us. it keeps me engaged for sure.