I'm still working with totem animals, as well as the four natural elements. It's good to give myself these restrictions because it requires that I be more creative in my thinking, which thus yields a more interesting piece (ex., finding many different ways of portraying earth, air, fire and water in a piece so I'm not doing the same thing over and over again). I've also been thinking more closely about the significations of the totem animals and pairing one animal with another which has a complimentary signification, or one that is seemingly contradictory; for example, my most recent piece depicts a heron and an ant--the heron signifies aggressive self-determination and self-reliance, and the ant signifies community, among other things.
Another recent piece is this one of a duck family and a garden spider. The duck represents feminine energy, protection, and emotional intelligence and comfort. The spider also represents feminine energy, creativity, strength as well as gentleness, and balance between physical and spiritual, male and female, past and present.
