Mill Creek, near my home, has been part of my life since before I can remember. As a child, I would flip over stones there looking for crayfish, or scrape soft stones to make paint. Growing further, I would look for fossils in the shale, only ever finding a few bivalves and brachiopods. Older still, I would simply enjoy nature, and frequent the trail that my late friend Thomas had shown me. Last summer my family walked the creek at least twice a week. We started placing bets as to the number of snakes we would find, not for any money of course, just for fun. Soon after, the debates started on whether shed snake skins counted as snakes.

Through my memories of this place, I created an articulated semblance of a snake. I constructed it from 18 gauge brass sheet and brass tube rivets, giving it a file finish in order to patinate quickly and show slight texture.