Bearskullpine
A new bigger version of my earlier drawing
In the Finnish mythology killing of a bear was followed by a great feast in honour of the bear (peijaiset), where a substantial part of the celebrations consisted of convincing the bear's spirit that it had died accidentally and hadn't been murdered. Afterwards, the bear's skull was hung high upon a pine tree so its spirit could re-enter the heavens. The bones of the bear were then buried under the pine.
These are watercolor and pencil and ink drawings. They are 5 of 10 images of my hand from a child's board book from which I peeled the laminated pages and exposed the underlying cardboard. I have always struggled with a very large Port Wine Stain birthmark, and periodically make art about that, this one of two books this year.
