ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION.....!!!!!!!

This image is copyrighted!  Though it has been copied from this original source  without authorization, and used and reused repeatedly by the natural birth community all over the internet without my permission (in some cases with strangers even taking the credit for it!),  it still remains MY copyrighted property.  Please understand that I actively search, find and pursue copyright violators via the DMCA (Digital Millineum Copyright Act): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act

While there are versions of this image floating around the web without my watermark, know that these versions are still my intellectual property, and may not be used without my express permission.  If there are any doubts please refer to Google's own policy about this : http://support.google.com/images/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=9299   Just because an image comes up in searches does not mean the image is not unburdened by copyright.  Using my image without my permission, whatever the source, amounts to stealing....


Since ancient times, among midwives and birth assistants, the human placenta has long been known as "The Tree of Life" -- with the umbilical cord resembling a 'Trunk', the arteries and veins resembling 'Branches', and the overall shape of the organ very suggestive of the canopy of a tree....

First in a short series, this hand-pulled print was created in acrylics using a most unusual canvas -- an actual, painted, positioned, newborn human placenta, immediately following the calm and peaceful home birth of a close friend and fellow artist (during which I was most privileged to attend as labor/delivery support).... Does it not look exactly like a tree?
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