The thrush in this painting was found byJane at the side of the road, probably bowled by a car, and appeared to be dead. She picked it up and discovered it was in fact still breathing. She held the bird close to her heart cupped in her warm hands. Upon arriving home the bird had regained consciousness and was perking up. A little while later the bird was ready to go, and was released back into the bush, but not before a special moment of contact with the artists eyes, as if engaging in an exchange of gratitude from both parties. 
 
The saving grace is the good thing that redeems, or saves, a negative experience. Universal grace or blessing, especially when it's granted suddenly. 
 
The Ouroboros ring: 'In alchemy, the ouroboros is a sigil. Swiss psychologist Carl Jung saw the ouroboros as an archetype and the basic mandala of alchemy. Jung also defined the relationship of the ouroboros to alchemy. “The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about the nature of the individuation process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. The Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the prima materia of the art was man himself. The Ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feed-back' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality, since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he therefore constitutes the secret of the prima materia which [...] unquestionably stems from man's unconscious.” - Carl Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 14 para. 513.'
 
 Alchemy is the art form liberating something from its fixed physical properties, a creative discipline, a transmutation of energies and transmutation of self. A grand personal experiment performed with critical introspection and objective investigation. The relationship to inward flowing content is greatly increased and through the process the self is regenerated and liberated, creating an interrelationship between mind and matter, between self and world. You are the world and the world is you. By changing yourself, you change everything.
 
Limited edition archival pigment print available