mixed media, oil on panel
45 x 31 inches (including handmade natural wood frame - 1/2 inch)
Schnecke. Snails typically have a nature of being referred to as “slow” and thus are often referred to in the religious contexts as being akin to the sin of sloth, there is even a metaphorical punishment with snail’s slime. Yet my favorite fact about them was that some of their so called “slime” was used as a natural dye, and created incredibly blue and purple dyes, but the process of extracting this slime for these colors was long and arduous (aka slow), and so production made quantity limited, which meant only the wealthy could afford such colors. Hence, purple being associated with royalty.