Large Spirit Bear and Sockeye Salmon Woodcut

"Spirit bears" are black bears, their genes have mutated and they are now pure white! They live in the Pacific NW and are fish eaters, eating a lot of salmon when they are spawning and running up rivers and waterfalls in the Great Bear Rainforest. Their population is small, may be only 500 animals. It would take a lot of effort to see them in the wild, and a lot of luck. 

There are legends from first nations people that the black bears turned white to remind people of a time when glaciers covered the land and people should be thankful for the lush landscape today. I love this sentiment.

I made this piece using 3 woodblocks that I carved and printed and carved and printed then overlapped to get it to this scale. I would not be able to register a block this size and print it because I tell ya, woodblocks are heavy! 

edition of 9
Image size 27”x39.5”
Paper size 30”x41.5”
Title: Spirit Bears of the Great Bear Rainforest