52 Weeks #52

Wow!  I made it...52 weeks and 52 new paintings.  This final one was a tough choice.  I considered a prairie or rattle snake as they are numerous nearby in Drumheller and Lethbridge, considered other birds but really wanted another mammal, also considered prairie dogs because they definitely live in abundance here and really look cute popping in and out of their holes but ended up choosing a bat since we enjoy seeing them so often high in the sky on summer evenings.

I remember as a child up north learning about their ability to emit ultrasound pulses to find their way at night and also that they are not blind, but see quite well.  They hibernate in caves and mountainsides throughout the winter and, in fact, it is illegal to disturb them during hibernation as they will expend all their energy trying to escape which causes their death (same with snakes).  And I also remember that their 'bones' in their wings are actually fingers and that their wings are really thin skin membrane.  What I love most about bats is that they eat mosquitos.

As a totem animal they signify higher awareness and keen observation.  Because they are highly sensitive they are also believed to be a powerful symbol of intuition, dreams and visions.  They are highly social, living with tight community ties, and so are nurturing and highly communicative.


And so this journey is complete, which is really rather bittersweet...they can all be viewed on my website at 52 WEEKS (every image is linked to its corresponding blog post so you can click on each if you want to read about the process, inspiration and animal).