Selkie 1

My maternal family originate from the Island of Tiree in the Hebrides and I grew up listening to stories of selkies: seal people who assume human form on land. Although these stories are heard in Irish, Faroese and Icelandic lore too, they all share a common theme of tragedy by miscegenation. It is no surprise to people who encounter the seal in these beautiful places that they are our most mythologised marine creature. In this narrative portrait I have chosen to depict the moment just before the Selkie returns to the sea. She takes leave of her family with one last look but is enevitably lured back to the waves.