Tortoise and the Hare - Mask

This is my entry to *cypherx's contest, themed "The Tortoise and the Hare". The details of the contest can be found here: [link] A larger view is available if you hit 'download,' so you can see all the details.

My first thought for this contest was to do a watercolor illustration of some sort portraying the fable, but then I realized, why not try something else? Why not try to tell a story in another medium? Since I've been making masks lately, I thought it may be a fun challenge to try to portray the story on leather.

My first sketches weren't anything exciting - I made the rabbit and tree too realistic, and it was quickly turning into simply an illustration on leather. After some more thought and sketches, I settled on a simpler design, very loosely based on the zoomorphic forms found in Celtic illuminated manuscripts.

Of course, I know the Tortoise and the Hare is a Greek fable (Aesop), but I wasn't aiming for historical accuracy here - simply an aesthetic and creative retelling of the tale.

This is hand-tooled and hand-shaped 8-oz leather, painted with acrylics. The 'road' portion is metallic gold. At first I was going to punch holes for both the ribbons as I usually do, but then thought, "wouldn't it work quite well if I made the ribbon on the tortoise's side the finish line?"