Angel Snakes

Are Angel Snakes Real?

Sasha saw the post yesterday of Marty's Yellow House. There was her likeness colored as she is, cut out and stitched to the art quilt. She nearly had a cow, or something like that. 

"What are people going to think?" she asked. 

"They are going to think you live in a nice house and are a beautiful Angel Snake," Gay answered. 

"Oh no, they are not!" she hissed. Clearly she was angry.

"What do you mean?" asked several of us all at once.

"They will think that I am a paper cutout stitched to a piece of cloth. They will think, will think that all the stories about us are just things Gay made up and writes about on her blog. They will think . . . ." She was breathless and shaking all over like the rattles at the end of some groundsnake's tail. 

Astrid wrapped her wings around Sasha to calm her. We all just sat silent and chewed on some left over bread pudding Gay gave us for breakfast. (Mind you, we were not complaining about breakfast, except for not getting any hard sauce because Gay said it was too early for that.)

 "It is a piece of art, Sasha," Gay assured her. "I call them fiber paintings. Sasha, no one ever confuses a painted portrait for the real thing, except for that unfortunate Dorian Gray one." Gay munched on a little bread pudding too. 

"But people never see pictures of us where we look real, like we do to you and our friends."

"Look, way back in the beginning when I set up the blog," Gay explained, " you were not here, but those who were discussed the matter at length and decided that the only pictures we would post would be those where the Angel Snakes are shown in paper pose. We did not want the humans reading the blog to be scared off by creatures that look in any way like ground snakes. Too many humans are afraid of snakes. So now everyone goes into paper pose before I snap the photo. It's what we do." 

"Okay. . . . Can I have some more bread pudding?" Then Sasha batted her lovely lashes and smiled, "With some hard sauce?"

What could Gay do? We all got some. 

Wings Up!!!

PS: Gay says the recipe came from Brennan's in New Orleans. Yum. 

 

The Bible Tells Me So

Some folks occasionally doubt that our work as artists, craftspersons, and muses is what we were created for.

Finally, Petunia simply pulled out a Bible (there are a few lying around at the Pogue's).

She turned to Genesis 3:1.

"Now the Serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made."

Then she grabbed a dictionary and showed us BOTH definitions for "crafty."

crafty |ˈkraftē|
adjective ( craftier , craftiest )
1 clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods : a crafty crook faked an injury to escape from prison.
• of, involving, or relating to indirect or deceitful methods : a shameless and crafty trick to mislead public opinion.
2 informal of, involving, or relating to the making of decorative objects and other things by hand : a market full of crafty pots and interesting earrings.

What more can I say?

Wings Up!!!
Madilla

PS: Petunia arrived recently with her body paint is a terrible state. She will not allow a photograph until she gets it in order. Things in that department are lagging behind. There was a problem with the water heater. Sunday morning was not pretty around here.

 

The Practical Muse: The Colonies

"Paper Pose"

In case you were wondering why we always look like paper figures in the photos and in our stories we dash about and talk and fly, I will tell you today about “paper pose” -- one of our most important methods of concealment. We hide in plain view and are able to see and hear all that is going on around us. Inconsequential paper cutouts do not really attract anyone’s attention. We retain the colors of our current body paint and appear our real size, but look like and even feel like a folded piece of paper.  We transform back to our real form when we are in the company of humans with whom we have a relationship.

It does create difficulties for some of our humans in that those who deny our existence truly will not see our real form, only a decorated paper cut-out.

Wings quietly Up!

Madilla

The Work of a Muse

What do muses actually do for an artist?

The question puzzles some folks, mostly those who have never had a muse.

Here are words from Morgan’s Muse Manual, the standard text used in most Angel Snake schools.

“Your work is to do that which is necessary to ensure your artist achieves his or her greatest potential. Period. . . . Down through the ages, we have learned that the first and foremost thing you must do is take your artist seriously and affirm all they do regarding their art. If there is any part of their creation that you do not 100% love, then ignore it. Praise effusively that which you do like. . . . Your praise must be sincere or soon you will be found out and do more harm than good. Your praise of that which is good will encourage more of that. . . .Every artist needs the unconditional acceptance of their work from someone. You are that someone.”
 
Most humans have a need to criticize, rework, and improve others’ works. That is why, for the most part, humans are such ineffective muses. 

Think on these things, dear Reader, and leave comments below.

Wings Up!!!
Nuncio

PS  Ellen is admiring a menu. Yes, menus are art.

Ancient Colors

In Ancient times when humans were scarce upon the earth, Angel Snakes expressed their artistic bent by painting on the walls of their burrows and painting their bodies in fantastic designs and colors. Their bushy tails made such painting possible. The ants who did much of the construction work on their burrows also helped in the creation of the pigments which were combined with resins to make a permanent bond with the skin when baked in the sun. 

Colors back then were largely earth, compounded with such elements as berry juices, pollens, and flower petals. Some roots and barks also lent color to their concoctions. Many early weavers and dyers learned their trade from generous Angel Snakes of old.

In the Angel Snake population centers where the pigment trade flourished, substantial land and warren space was dedicated to the Color Pools, much like human Roman baths or modern spas.

When an Angel Snake felt molting was imminent, he or she would travel to the Color Pools nearby to await the sloughing off of old skin and its attached color, allow toughening of the ex0posed skin, and then have the new pigments applied. Seldom did an Angel Snake have the colors painted back exactly as they had been. They always wanted something new and different.

In a desire to one-up one another, some Angel Snakes forced molting at a much more frequent rate than was healthy and thereby shortened their lives. Such practices are a sad commentary on the vanity of Angel Snakes.

Unfortunately, Angel Snakes still do such things, and encourage their humans to go to equal excesses to achieve a certain “look.”

It must be mentioned that usually Angel Snakes keep the same general markings and patterns throughout their lives and change only the colors and other applied decorations. The exceptions are those Angel Snakes who choose, for whatever reason, to emulate human dress in their patterns. But even here, once the human dress pattern is established, they merely change the colors.

Wings Up!!!
Madilla

PS Leave questions you may have on this topic in the comments section below. So that all readers may benefit, I will answer in the comments also.

"Wings Up!"

Angel Snakes often say, "Wings up!"  They say it to themselves when they are ready to fly, or aloud when they want their companions to be on alert.  When they part, they smile and say, "Wings up!" as a reminder to be ready for all the good things that come their way.  

This painting is of the first Angel Snake I knew and was painted in August of 2006.   It is 8" x 12" in gouache on paper.  

Tale of a Tail

This portrait of the Angel Snake Alfred shows one the prominent characteristics of all Angel Snakes: a growth of silky hair on the tip of the tail.   Some Angel Snakes have thicker hair and some thinner; it grows to varying lengths.  Long ago, Angel Snakes learned that they could moisten their tails, dip them into the color pools, and apply color to all sorts of things, even themselves.  Of course for special occasions, great care is taken to clean and fluff the hair to its pom-pom best.

Alfred worked with a prestigious body painter in his community to create this rather racy design.