Odin’s Eye

About This Project

Fox Skin, Ash Wood, Linha Do Tucum, Oak Gall Ink, Beeswax.

I contacted Andy The Ferret Man as I had to clear a rabbit warren inside a fenced coppice at Whitecaunce Farm. He came along with his wife and daughter one sunny Autumn day and silently laid his nets, released his ferrets and we caught and killed 4 rabbits which became a casserole, fur lined slippers and bone broth.

A few days later Andy phoned me up and said “Greg, you deal with skins don’t you?”, “Occasionally”, I replied, “but only if I’ve taken responsibility for taking its life”.

“Oh”, he said, “Only I’ve got 3 dog foxes still with their Winter coats that I’ve had to kill because they were part of a skulk of 17 foxes around a chicken farm. Do you want them?”.

“What will you do with them if I don’t take them”, I answered.

“Throw them in the bin”, he said.

So I took the foxes and over the course of the next 3 days skinned, fleshed, tanned and dried the skins and buried the carcasses where I could dig up the bones in a few months. As I worked the skins I said prayers, and sang songs for the foxes that had given their lives. Connecting with their spirits and helping them on their way. Two of the skins I gave as gifts and the third became the bag / cloth for ‘Odin’s Eye’.