2026 · Black ink and watercolor on paper
49 × 65 cm · 19.3 × 25.6 in
This piece began with something I witnessed one morning while running in Ericeira.
On the road, I came across a mother hedgehog who had been hit by a car, still curled around her baby. Even after everything, her body was holding on.
I stood there with the same thought looping through my mind: if I had arrived a few minutes earlier, could I have stopped them from crossing? I couldn’t. And that helplessness stayed with me.
When an image refuses to leave me, drawing is often the way I process it.
I placed the baby exactly where I had found them, tucked into her chest. Around them, I built a small world of moons, stars, and foliage, almost like an altar. The patterns across the mother’s body became a kind of shield — an echo of the protection she offered until her final breath.
When I later returned to the piece in a larger format and began introducing color, the palette unexpectedly brought me back to Mexico — to the vivid colors of piñatas and the brightness I remember from Christmas there.
What began in grief slowly became something else: a tribute to tenderness, protection, and a moment of love I had been there to witness.
Hedgehogs hold an interesting contradiction: they are soft, vulnerable animals protected by an exterior designed to keep danger away.
That tension became central to the piece.
The mother’s curled body became an image of protection without aggression — a form of care expressed simply through holding, sheltering, and remaining close.
For me, the Hedgehogs came to reflect the quieter forms of devotion: the instinct to protect what is vulnerable, the tenderness hidden inside self-protection, and the ways love can remain visible even in moments of loss.
The moons, stars, and surrounding foliage transform the scene from something I witnessed on the road into a space of remembrance — not to erase what happened, but to honor the life and connection that were there.
What might the Hedgehogs awaken in us about tenderness, protection, and the ways we care for what is vulnerable?
Features
Original drawing, 2026
Black ink and watercolor on paper
Artwork size: 49 × 65 cm · 19.3 × 25.6 in
Framed as exhibited for purchases made during the exhibition.
Signed + dated
Certificate of authenticity
Editions & Prints
Limited Edition Fine Art Print
Signed and numbered archival print, limited edition of 50 in A2.
A2 — 42 × 59.4 cm | 16.5 × 23.4 in
Join the Limited Edition List
Open Edition Fine Art Print
Available in multiple sizes and framing options.
Shop Open Edition Prints
Framing
This original is currently offered framed as exhibited in In the Presence of Animals. The frame is included in the listed price.
Free worldwide shipping included. Ships from Portugal. If shipping to your location requires an exceptional surcharge (remote islands/areas), I’ll contact you before dispatch.
Carefully packed with protective materials. Tracking provided.
International buyers may be responsible for customs duties/VAT.
Have any questions? Send me an email: nayeli@nayelilavanderos.com
2026 · Black ink and watercolor on paper
49 × 65 cm · 19.3 × 25.6 in
This piece began with something I witnessed one morning while running in Ericeira.
On the road, I came across a mother hedgehog who had been hit by a car, still curled around her baby. Even after everything, her body was holding on.
I stood there with the same thought looping through my mind: if I had arrived a few minutes earlier, could I have stopped them from crossing? I couldn’t. And that helplessness stayed with me.
When an image refuses to leave me, drawing is often the way I process it.
I placed the baby exactly where I had found them, tucked into her chest. Around them, I built a small world of moons, stars, and foliage, almost like an altar. The patterns across the mother’s body became a kind of shield — an echo of the protection she offered until her final breath.
When I later returned to the piece in a larger format and began introducing color, the palette unexpectedly brought me back to Mexico — to the vivid colors of piñatas and the brightness I remember from Christmas there.
What began in grief slowly became something else: a tribute to tenderness, protection, and a moment of love I had been there to witness.
Hedgehogs hold an interesting contradiction: they are soft, vulnerable animals protected by an exterior designed to keep danger away.
That tension became central to the piece.
The mother’s curled body became an image of protection without aggression — a form of care expressed simply through holding, sheltering, and remaining close.
For me, the Hedgehogs came to reflect the quieter forms of devotion: the instinct to protect what is vulnerable, the tenderness hidden inside self-protection, and the ways love can remain visible even in moments of loss.
The moons, stars, and surrounding foliage transform the scene from something I witnessed on the road into a space of remembrance — not to erase what happened, but to honor the life and connection that were there.
What might the Hedgehogs awaken in us about tenderness, protection, and the ways we care for what is vulnerable?
Features
Original drawing, 2026
Black ink and watercolor on paper
Artwork size: 49 × 65 cm · 19.3 × 25.6 in
Framed as exhibited for purchases made during the exhibition.
Signed + dated
Certificate of authenticity
Editions & Prints
Limited Edition Fine Art Print
Signed and numbered archival print, limited edition of 50 in A2.
A2 — 42 × 59.4 cm | 16.5 × 23.4 in
Join the Limited Edition List
Open Edition Fine Art Print
Available in multiple sizes and framing options.
Shop Open Edition Prints
Framing
This original is currently offered framed as exhibited in In the Presence of Animals. The frame is included in the listed price.
Free worldwide shipping included. Ships from Portugal. If shipping to your location requires an exceptional surcharge (remote islands/areas), I’ll contact you before dispatch.
Carefully packed with protective materials. Tracking provided.
International buyers may be responsible for customs duties/VAT.
Have any questions? Send me an email: nayeli@nayelilavanderos.com
