the snake of good fortune-a painted cabinet card

What inspires your art? Sometimes I'm inspired by a memory from the past, from lines in a story or poem, or from looking at another's art. I'm especially inspired these days by oddities in nature, like albino squirrels and crows or snakes with two heads; they seem magical, wanderers from another realm.

Polycephalic animals, ones with multiple heads, are rare but according to wikipedia, turtles and snakes are the most common. And here's a bit of trivia for you-- In 1894, there was reported a two-headed partridge and in 1930, a two-headed kitten.

This is a cabinet card I painted, framed and gave my father for Father's day. I used gesso, acrylic paints and pencil directly onto the old photograph. The two-headed snake represents the enchantment I used to feel in the woods at night as a child wandering the Blue Ridge with my flashlight.

*click here for more two headed snake images

*And this next link has nothing whatsoever to do with polycephalicy; it's one to an awesome documentary about mothers who are artists and their struggle to make it all work. I recommend it to any artist, regardless of sex or whether or not you have children. It was inspiring and one I hope you get a chance to see. The movie is "Who Does She Think She Is?"