Kate H. made sculptures of snakes because she loved snakes and she also liked art. She didn’t know much about how to make sculptures so she tried different materials from plaster of Paris, air drying clay, oven baked clay, a deer skull, and sticks, leftover electrical wiring, pennies, washer and netting taken from grocery foods.

Some of the snake she made from her favorite books such as Kaa from the Jungle Book, The Incredibly Deadly Viper from a Series of Unfortunate Events, and Shel Silverstein’s snake in Snake Problem. She also made some from real life including a Coral Snake, an Emerald Boa, and a Copperhead snake. Some of the snakes she made were based in cultural symbology, such as the caduceus symbol for medicine that recognizes the healing qualities of venom, the Day of the Dead skull from Mexico that represents a transition from life and death, and the Chinese Zodiac symbol for the year of the snake.

Kate raffled several of the snakes at our 2013 Imagination Celebration, raising $150 to donate to the reptile division of the Pittsburgh Zoo to help support the work they do with snakes that are endangered.