skins you can stand behind and snuggle with.

Ivy, snow leopard

Reading a magazine this weekend I got reminded of the work of Ruth Marshall. I first saw some of her snake works at the Museum of Art and Design a few years ago.


Ruth uses knitting to protest the poaching of animals for their skins and in the process creates astoundingly realistic replicas of the animals.

amur leopard

Beyond wildlife preservation Ruth is interested in the balance between survival and danger and our precarious relationship with nature.

Gold Jaguar

Her big cat's series is extremely beautiful and ambitious. The knitted skins are so realistic you have to look twice to believe what you see. Supposedly, one of her recent skins sold for more than the black market value of an actual cat skin. Now that is awesome to replace the killing of an animal by the sweet click of your needles and fingers.


Her snake works are lovely. I particularly like them all curled up and tagged as you would find them in a collectors work room.
But they are often displayed hung on the wall.

Coral Snakes

Seeing work like this always makes me want to make work that is more political or more about the greater world. But I never have personally been inspired to do it- and the inner world of our hearts is just as important so for now no political work for me. But I do hope someday I get that bug of inspiration. As I am always inspired by those that do it.

Check out Ruth's work and heartfelt writings here.