Relief

Artist's Statement:

The idea for this came from fairytales. I wanted to represent that kind of forest, that you find in a fairy tale. The idea mainly came from the stories that center on the too-clever-fox (written by Leigh Bardugo), and his companion the nightingale. I think that this scene really represents their dynamic. In the stories, the fox is usually the one to have all the ideas, while the nightingale is more cautious.

The material that I would have prefered to work with is wood, but I don't think that was in supply, and it would have been hard to carve. I would have prefered wood because it is a forest scene. Also, wood carvings are often featured in fairy tales, so I thought that it would be more fitting. But instead I used lino, because it was more available, and also easier to carve. The bonus to this was that I was able to make prints before I finished it, sealing the lino.

One thing that changed in the process was that originally, I did not have a bird in the design, but rather just a fox. This is because a lot of fairy tales feature foxes. However, I found  that the composition was a bit too off centered. So to bring the eye around, I added the bird, which also has some connection to fairy tales. This made it so that they eye follows the trail from the fox, then goes up to the moon, and finally lands on the bird.