Blessing of the Adder

by Nina Pommelin

Black worm that liveth underground,

maggot of the hue of death!

In Finland the adder – or snakes in general – were said to be born from the earth and the venom in adders was all the evil and hatred that had soaked into the soil. This made people believe that adders could absorb evil and hence snakes were used to ward off evil. People might even keep snakes near their houses and feed them. However, these were usually the non-venomous grass snakes.

This painting is from my mini series “Blessings of the Old Gods” in which I explored various blessings related to animals. Many of them have to do with health, fortune and protection against evil and misfortune.

Painted in ink and gold medium on 300 g/sqm Arches hot press watercolour paper. The painting is unframed.

Product Height: 29,7 cm / 11'4 in
Product Width: 21 cm / 8'3 in

$275 $275

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Nina Pommelin

Nina Pommelin, appearing online as ShinonArt, is an artist based in Finland who specializes in creature design and creating realistic and visually believable illustrations.

Nina works flexibly in digital and traditional media and her traditional work is done in watercolours and inks. Nina's work is inspired by nature, fantasy and folklore, especially Finnish mythology and its animistic features, which she explores a lot in her work.