Original artwork description:

The third painting in the series inspired by my sabbatical at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. The first three paintings had ravens in them. I was thinking to myself, "Where are all these ravens coming from". At that time in my life my work was mostly in grays and the figures were very pale. I think I was not seeing the beauty in life and all the ugly in the world made my visions gray and dead. This work was the transition into color. The other paintings are not completed at this time, but will be over the next few months.

I think the raven has been depicted wrongly for centuries. They got their "bad rap" because of their carrion trait. They are scavengers by nature and were always found around the aftermath of battles feeding on the dead. What I found out was: they are highly intelligent - ravens can be taught to speak. Odin from Norse Mythology had two ravens who's job it was to fly, one to the east, and one to the west and collect knowledge of what mankind was up to. When they returned each day they would tell Odin what they had learned. Many Native American Tribes believe that ravens do the same thing and are messengers (sometimes spies) that collect what is going on in the world and if you have the talent/spirit in you they will tell you.

Color has returned - hope has returned.

Materials used:

Acryic Paint