Serpent: A work in deep relief

Although this was made in Texas in 2004, it has never been shown. It is on a wall in my studio. It is made of acrylic polymer paste, built up at the highest points at about 2 cm. It is underpainted in oil, in light pthalo blue, then finished in bone black, each scale having been previously incised with a lino cutter, then scraped down to the undercoat with a wooden knife. The ground is 24k gold leaf. The work is on masonite and measures 122 x 122 x 2 cm.