 Turtle Shaman  Click Here for a Close-up Portrait
 Click Here for a detail on her costume |
O Wise One, Awaken the Spirit of Earth With the song of the turtle's shell. Soothing sounds of the river's edge Slow silence of stone, then storm. You move the many seeds of change To call the winds, to summon rain. Turtle is the oldest symbol of Our Mother Earth, representing the land that first emerged from the primordial sea of creation, like a turtle's back emerges from the water. Turtle holds a balance of earth and water energies within her protective shell. This Turtle Shaman was created as a Prayer for Rain. She stands firmly grounded on the earth, moving the heavens to release their life-giving moisture. She is partially sculpted in polymer clay, gently painted, with a posable soft body over wire armature, shaped with batting then covered and handstitched in cotton fabric. The symbols of Earth are stitched onto her deep green leather dress, and drawn inbetween lines of the poem encircling her pine base. Abalone shells dangle to strengthen her call for water. Her shaman's cloak is simple fur, her fringed sleeves imitating the wings of the shaman's flight to the spirit world. Her turtleshell is also sculpted of polymer and painted, with glass beads to create a strong rattle. |
