"Crow's Song"

48" x 36"
acrylic on canvas



Hello dear blogging world, it’s been a while, but I felt it’s time to take a quick break to revisit and reflect on where things have been and where things are now as the year winds down and we prepare to ring in the new. It’s always an exciting time, though it’s hard to believe we are already here again!

Amidst the shuffle, I’ve been longing to post more personal tidbits about all my recent work from this year. While being “too busy” would indeed be a valid excuse, excuses don’t exist in my world, so I’ll admit that it has been the result of putting off discussing myself – the mood has to strike, and even then, I still like to have the work speak for itself.

Many of you have checked out the current 2011 volume of Direct Art 18 of which I was the cover feature, and where many of the latest works from this year’s show are published along with my own personal writings behind each piece. For those of you who have yet to see it, you may still order a copy online, http://slowart.com/subscribe.htm, and stay tuned as I re-post most of it here on the blog.

One work that I have not yet touched on anywhere, and one that has gotten several mixed and interesting reactions is Crow’s Song, so I figured it would be a good place to start. Another more personal statement about my own life and the “journey” I feel that I’m on, this painting serves, in some ways, as a sequel to No Turning Back, once again reflecting the whole “triumph of courage over fear” dynamic, but executed in lieu of a MUCH different, happier, more enlightened and fulfilled "me" than at the time its predecessor was created. All my paintings are essentially “portraits” of my inner self, expressed through my characters, landscapes, and use of color. As someone who feels I’m always in a strange state of inner transformation, Crow’s Song is a tribute to recognizing and embracing that very aspect of the self, and celebrates one of the most beautiful and misunderstood of creatures that is of deep significance to me: the crow.

Inspired by a deep-rooted fascination with Native American culture, legends, and spirituality, and memories of the bird’s odd and steady presence in my life during a time when I searched desperately to “find myself”, crows have revealed themselves to accompany nothing but positive forces from beneath their dark disguise. Over the years, this astonishing bird has come to symbolize, for me, everything BUT the “darkness” they are typically associated with – the complete opposite, in fact. For me, they symbolize the beauty of new beginnings after the end of a dark struggle; spiritual awakening after a period of soul-searching, and having the courage to face the unknown and to recognize it’s all up to us to make what we want of life. As a result, I always feel a sense of comfort when I hear their distant call, as it causes me to take a moment to reflect on my life, the lessons I’ve learned, and the path I’m on. That’s the beauty of nature to me; by just taking the time to listen and observe, one can learn many things. It reminds me that everything works in its own way in its own time.

A crow’s intriguing presence and shape against the starkness of a rural landscape, for me, personifies all the transformative power, mystery, and beauty of the unknown, intuitive side of nature; a supernatural phenomena all its own that parallels the feeling of being in tune and at one with your soul and all that is around you. Crow’s Song speaks to that moment of clarity, when that inner power we all possess enables us to transform and emerge anew. Symbolized here through the figure enveloped in the protection of the flock’s embrace (the shape and color of her robe evoking that of a crow itself), it’s about moving forward with bravery, determination, and faith in one’s self and one’s own life purpose, and pays homage to that internal power that a crow’s presence always reminds me exists deep within. Crow’s Song is about hearing the wake-up call to come back to life and embrace and cultivate your own true spirit. Here’s to always looking and moving onward and upward.