Raven Lunatic
To live among Ravens is to love them. Intelligent, opportunistic, curious tricksters - Ravens have given me many stories.
Little Raven’s Big Wish
I love the humble dandelion. We enjy a peaceful co-existance. So many folks rail against them, yanking ‘em out, heaping poison upon them (and our environment). Well, I tell ya what… they’ve been around since the dinosaurs, and will undoubtedly be here long after my demise, so I figger we may as well get along. Available as limited edition hand colored original Solar Plate Etching, as 5x7 or 8x12 Metal Print, or special order custom size Giclee print on paper.
Raven's Sweet Tooth
A few weeks after the holidays, it becomes time to throw the stale Christmas cookies out into the compost bin. I knew the ravens would sweep in moments after I dumped them into the compost. Around here we call the compost bin “The Raven Feeder.” I watched from the kitchen window as a single Raven landed. He carefully stacked three sugar cookies in his beak, flew off, and returned moments later. I watched him fly around to the front of the house, where he landed high up in a tall Spruce tree. He disappeared into the branches, then popped back out and returned to the pile. Back and forth he flew these mission trips until there were no cookies left.
Now here’s the funny thing. Ravens do cache (stash) their food. They are also known to share. However, Mr. Sweet-tooth evidently luvs him sum cookies. It so happens that the Spruce tree is just outside my living room window, across from my reading chair. For weeks, that raven would show up in late afternoon, disappear into his hidey-hole and have himself a cookie break. Always alone. Some things are just too good to share. Original hand colored Solar Plate Etching. SOLD OUT.
Raven To The Stars
Glittery black eyes blinking in the surrounding darkness. A ricochet of starlight against sheen of feathers. Stark raven? I think not.
Comfort Among Friends
To sit together in silence. To be understood although words remain unspoken, is to know the sanctuary of friendship. Available as limited edition original Copperplate Etching.
Ash Backwards
Mountain Ash trees laden with rowan berries is deemed to be a foretaste of the winter to come. Oodles of berries forecast abundant snowfall. In autumn, red-ripe berries amidst brilliant yellow foliage are irresistible to the blue-black raven. Available as limited edition original hand colored Solar Plate Etching, or special order custom size Giclee on paper.
Seed Catalog Moon
One year, the first seed catalog arrived in my mailbox literally the day after Christmas, just as the deluge of gift catalogs ceased. The occasion inspired this ode to Edgar Allan Poe: Once upon a winter’s moon/garden plans for coming June/’tispods on vines he doth adore/quoth the raven, “Ever more!”
Available as limited edition original hand colored Copperplate Engraving.
Tying the Knot
Ravens mate for life. They are wise in so many ways. Original Watercolor/SOLD.
Flora & Fauna
Raven siblings often stay together their first few years. Ravens nest in the woods near our house, so we often have fledglings hanging around in our yard. I like to think that they feel safe here. One day I noticed a raven playing with a Poppy. The bright orange blossoms were waving in the breeze and the little raven was quite fascinated. He would wait for the flower to sway towards him and then reach over to peck at it with his beak, sending it nodding to the ground and bobbing back up. Peck, nod, bob, peck, he amused himself (and me) with this trick for quite a while.
His sister flew by and landed on the flat arm of an Adirondack chair in my garden and proceeded to squawk. Her brother swooped in and tried to land on the back of the chair. It proved too slim of a perch and he was a fluster of flapping wings as he tried to gain balance. He lost footing on the slippery backrest, slid down the backrest of the chair, landed ingloriously on the seat, and looked over at his sister.
“Huh,” he seemed to say, “that was kinda fun.”
He flew back up and o’er and proceeded, with signature flap and frolic, to slide down again.
And again.
And again and again.
Up, down, up, down, his sibling turning her head in time to his antics, watching his goofy game. Pure, unabashed silliness. If she’s like any good sister, she was probably thinking; “Dork.”
Original Watercolor.
Stevie Rave On
It was my daughter, Solveig, who told me one day that if she had a pet raven, she’d have to name him “Stevie.” I do so wish he were still here ‘ravin’ on. Life by the drop
Available as special order custom size Giclee print. Original Watercolor/SOLD.
Dandy Raven
Ravens love all things that shine & shimmer, often incorporating sparkly bits into their nests. I just know, if they could, they would drape themselves in bling and really strut their stuff. Oooooo, shiny
Available as 5x7 Metal Print or special order custom size Giclee on paper. Original Watercolor available.
Raven Berries
Like other birds, Ravens collect sticks and string and such for their nests. They also like to play games with objects; picking up and dropping sticks or passing a piece of string back & forth with a playmate mid-flight, for instance.
I was driving to town one Tuesday, in a bit of a funk. It was a gray, uninspiring kind of day. A raven came swooping alongside my car, bearing a lavish sprig of Rowanberries (aka Mountain Ash Berries). I looked over at him and he turned to look at me. That crescent of red made it look as if he had a big, goofy smile on his face. Clowning around, so to speak, making me laugh out loud. Thanks, buddy, I needed that. Available as 5x7 Metal Print or special order custom size Giclee on paper.
Tagalong
Who dat? Available as an original Solarplate Etching, or 5x7 Metal Print.
Yin Yang Raven
“Yin Yang Raven” is the first in a series of original solar plate prints, inspired but the Mythology of Ravens across various cultures. In folklore and mythology, Raven often occupies dual roles: creator/destroyer, hero/villain, comic/tragic, generous/gluttonous. Across cultural lines raven often was originally white in color, evolving into a separate, opposite black raven, sometimes earning his darkness through heroism, sometimes via less admirable traits. For me, the moral lies in the duality of nature that these stories embrace: the balance of Yin and Yang. In addition, research documents not only biological fact on Corvids but also their social behaviors, including play… behavior that has no other apparent reason beyond entertainment; a lone raven repeatedly dropping, then swooping to catch small objects in mid-air, groups flying together
handing off strings or sticks to each other. Soaring in pairs, one raven might
spontaneously tuck a wing and roll onto its back, mid-flight, to lock talons
with his cohort, tumbling through the air in a partnership of play. I can
envision black raven and white raven doing so… Yin Yang Raven. Available as limited edition original Solar Plate Etching.
From my series on Raven Mythology: “Bedazzled Raven Steals the Sun, Moon and Stars.” Original Solar Plate Etching.
In the long ago, the world was cold and dark because the sun had been stolen by a selfish shaman who kept it shut away in a wooden box. Trickster Raven fooled the shaman into opening the box for “just a peek.” At that moment Raven dove in to steal the sun, snatching it up in his beak. In the ensuing skirmish, Raven momentarily lost his grip and dropped the sun. Two chips fell away to become the moon and the stars. Regaining his hold on the sun, Raven soared skyward and returned it to its rightful place high in the heavens for the benefit of all mankind. Burned by the sun’s intense heat, Raven’s flesh and feathers were singed as shiny and black as coal. For his sacrifice, his burned flesh is distasteful to all creatures and thus Raven is prey to no one. (Inspired by Haida legend)
“The Impatient Loon” - Original Solar Plate Etching
Long ago Raven created many living things to inhabit the earth, visualizing one being that would roam land, sky, and sea. At that time, Raven’s feathers were the purest, most brilliant white. One day, he plucked one and used it to fashion a Loon. Spreading his luminous new wings, Loon was anxious to try them out. “Not yet, I’m not quite finished,” said Raven. The impatient Loon began to fidget.
On the riverbank Raven made a fire. He tightly packed curls of birch bark into two stacked pots and put them in the flames, covering them with stones. Slowly, the birch smoked and flared, flared and charred. Meanwhile, Loon fidgeted.
Over the hours, the blaze turned to coals and the birch turned to tar. Raven dipped the tip of a long stick into the pitch and used it to delicately paint Loon’s back. Creating patterns like sunshine dancing across dappled water, Raven worked meticulously. Loon fidgeted.
Finally, Raven exclaimed, “Stop your squirming, or I cannot finish!” His patience spent, Loon leapt flappingly to his feet sending stick and pots flying, covering the exasperated white Raven with tar, making him as black as the pitch of night. Stumbling through the muddle of tar, Loon’s feet became leaden. To this day he remains graceful on water and wing, but ever cumbersome on land. (From the Inuit legend)
“Raven Crowns the First Deer” - Original Solar Plate Etching
In the long ago White Raven was pure and good while his brother’s soul was as dark as his shiny black feathers. Where White Raven loved to make new things, the Dark One reveled in foiling such endeavors. In his efforts, White Raven created many living things to populate earth’s lands, seas and skies. Finally, he envisioned the perfect being. Deer would be a graceful creature, fleet of foot, bestowed with alert soft brown eyes and keen hearing. Noble and wise by nature, Deer would be directed to offer brave counsel and friendship to all. Placing a crown of antlers on this valiant new leader, white Raven leaned in closely to whisper his instructions. Before he could do so, Dark One, who was lurking nearby seized upon the moment to dive in, plummeting upon Deer who bounded away… thus instilling startle, instead of bravery, into Deer. (From Northwest Coast legend)
“Raven and the First Humans” - Original Solar Plate Etching
After the great flood, Raven was walking along the beach foraging for something to eat when he spied a very large clamshell. Coming closer, he heard unfamiliar sounds coming from inside the shell. Ever curious, Raven peered within to see what was making these peculiar noises and spied numerous tiny beings huddled together, frightened after enduring the traumas of the flood. In order to coax the creatures to come out, Raven stood on top of the shell and sang gently to reassure them; “Come out, come out, no need to be afraid, I am Raven, who brought the sun back, I will not hurt you, come enjoy this beautiful world, it is safe, the flood is over.” Raven has many voices, ranging from sharp warning calls to crooning, lulling vocalizations, and he was careful to use his most soothing and melodious songs. One by one, the beings emerged… and this is the story of how Raven discovered the first humans, known today as the Haida peoples of British Colombia.
“How Flounder Came to Be” - Original Solar Plate Etching
In the long ago White Raven was pure and good while his brother’s soul was as dark as his shiny black feathers. Where White Raven loved to make new things, Dark One reveled in foiling such endeavors. In his efforts, White Raven created many living beings to populate earth’s lands, seas and skies. One day, he created the first fish; beautiful and shiny, elegant of line, with a strong arched spine designed for sure and strong movement through water. At the edge of the sea White Raven gave Fish the final flourishes of sheen and flash of color. Meanwhile, Dark One plotted from above, dropping a heavy stone onto Fish, flattening him and sending him to depths of the ocean, were he became the first Flounder… eyes upward, forever watchful from below. (From Northwest Coast legend)