Selkies are mainly said to be Grey seals that can shed their skin under the moonlight to reveal a beautiful woman. The woman or group of women dance under the moon light but put their skins back on before dawn and return to the sea.
The basic story goes a man/farmer is walking along the coast when he spots a group of women dancing in the moonlight on the beach. He realises they are selkie so he waits for them to be out of sight of their seal skins and he grabs one.
The man returns near dusk to find a naked woman crying on the beach, she explains that she needs her seal skin back or she cannot be with her sisters. The man confesses to having taken it but will not give it back, which means she must be his wife. The distressed woman goes with him.
Many years later she has had children and has nearly forgotten her life at sea, she still stares out to sea but unsure what is missing. One day her husband forgets to lock the trunk he kept her seal skin in and she grabs it. She returns to sea, leaving her children and husband behind. The sea is her home.
The print I created shows her longing and strength.