On days when the world is out to get you, envision a circle of protection around you. Call in your favorite animals, friends and family and envision a circle around you to help lift your spirits. We know animals often make protection circles around their young or injured, with horns, antlers and tusks facing out. The shape of a circle has also been used as a symbol for a boundary line, creating sacred spaces, protecting from chaos or harm.
The snake forms my protection circle, a symbol of the divine feminine because of their ability to shed their skin to create new life. Inside are the fox and the raven, and the words, “We protect each other”. Canids, foxes, coyotes, and wolves - have a symbiotic relationship with corvids, often sharing food, or being led to a carcass by a bird. To maintain a relationship with a friend or neighbor (fox and raven) we must trust that we will protect each other, treat each other with kindness, treat resources as if they are sacred and only take what we need from the earth, leaving enough for others - all this as a form of protection, keeping safe what we love most.
10″h x 8″w, edition of 100 on Rives BFK, unframed.
Print Edition: Protection Circle
This piece is a "relief engraving.” It is in the block print or relief family of printmaking, which refers to two surfaces, one lower than the other, so that the highest surface prints. I hand carve each image with small but tough tools called burins, or gravers. The remaining surface is rolled with ink and pressed through the printing press. Each print taken from the plate is part of an edition, and numbered. My limited editions are always under 100 since they are inked and cranked by hand on my printing press. Printed on 100% Cotton Rag Paper.
