Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Three Muses Challenge-Black Bird.


I made this piece after I did a little research on Ravens for another challenge. I found there is more to the raven than just perching over Poe's door.
Raven, the trickster, is a native American totem spirit. Native Americans of the Northwest considered Raven a mythic champion who stole the sun from a box where it had been concealed. Having done this he released it into the sky for the benefit of mankind. Other stories make the raven responsible for releasing the stars and the moon from bags and/or boxes where they had been kept hidden. Peter Goodchild, in Raven Tales (1991) has collected stories from the Pacific Northwest that celebrate the raven’s use of trickery and intelligence to transform the environment into something man can use. It is Raven who is responsible for releasing the sun, establishing a rhythm to the seasons and providing shamans with their visionary and healing powers.

Raven-Bringer of Light

Was created using Photoshop brush sets: Crow brushes by Emma Alvarex, Tribal set 1 by Stephanie at Obsidian Dawn, Easy Elements Swirls for the cut-outs on the ravens wings,Halloween vectors (the moon), and Sun brush pack (the sun).
Background textures from Shadowlands, Tanya at T4L and Jessica Sprague; map from Vintage Moth and other images from Google.

19 comments:

  1. Love the spirals in the Raven's wings!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow this is very impressive.
    Amazing art.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow this is very impressive.
    Amazing art.

    ReplyDelete
  4. what a fantastic background!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wrote a lovely long comment, which disappeared. Arrrgh! Anyway, what I said was this is fantastic. You've captured such a feeling of movement and majesty. I, too, love the legends of the raven, the blackbird and the crow, especially the legend of the crow funeral. Your comments make your art even more special! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a gorgeous piece!! love your interpretation of the theme and, I loved reading the story to go with it!!

    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful and symbolic take on this theme. A visually beautiful and meaningful entry!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is really majestic, Linda. Great art and thanks for the info about the raven.

    ReplyDelete
  9. my jaw hit the floor when this popped up on my screen! it is nothing less than surperb!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good on the Raven for being responsible for so many good deeds for man! That said I have to congratulate you on the most wonderful piece of artwork. It is superb.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love to see your bird in full flight, Linda, special background & great choice of colours makes the bird really 'pop!'

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great Blackbird piece friend!!! Thanks for sharing...
    Smiles,
    Susie

    ReplyDelete
  13. FANTASTIC, wonderful piece of art.

    ReplyDelete
  14. wonderful post! i always love the raven mysteries and your piece is wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I just stumbled across your blog while I was looking for pictures of ravens after a very beautiful meditation. Your work is beautiful. I hope you are still creating. Thank you for sharing your talents and gifts. Peace and Light :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi, Linda – love this art. I write a personal blog (A Just Recompense) in which I comment on short stories among other things, and I'd like to use your Raven as the header art for a post about "Punchline" by Erin McGraw from the Pushcart Prize volume 2013, since the story includes an important mention of a "trickster God" and I immediately thought of the Native American raven. I'd credit you in a caption (whatever name you like) and hover link to this post. Is this ok with you? My email is in my profile. Thanks – Karen Carlson

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Linda, I got your message. Here's the link to the post featuring your art:
    http://sloopie72.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/pushcart-2013-erin-mcgraw-punchline-from-the-kenyon-review-fall-2011/
    If anything looks amiss, let me know.
    Thanks again! - Karen

    ReplyDelete