"Caught in the Headlights" Raven Series (a Pyrographic Painting)

Wood burning techniques are used to render the drawing of the raven. I use washes of acrylic paint to create the depths of colour and enhance the image.

Like deer or raccoon caught in the headlights on a lonely road at night, this raven entered my driving space. I saw a winged flash of ebony, a sparkled form, an open, screaming beak -all in the blink of an eye. I was startled, and in this instance, I felt that adrenalin rush and sweats. The image and its sensations remained with me for some time, and quite vividly at that, finally coming out when I did the Raven series.

Trying to revive the image and its sensations and then to give it form was a challenge. Along with trying to communicate a vision of that moment, I take time to look at the wood grain in the panels in order to determine how to place the image and utilize the natural aspects of the wood to complete a whole picture.

In this picture this instance is frozen, and, one is left wondering about what happened next. As well the moment depicted represents the angst ( a feeling of anxiety or apprehension) one feels when such events swoop into our lives without warning. As a viewer, one can take one's time to analyze the painting; as a participant in the moment, one cannot analyze, one merely reacts and feels.

And, what about the raven? Thoughts? Feelings?