"Raven in the Sun" Raven Series (a pyrographic painting)

Wood burning techniques are used to render the preliminary drawing of the raven. Washes of acrylic paint are added to create the depth of colour and the image I want to communicate.

All the techniques are used to present a vision I have. In this painting I am depicting the idea of the raven as a solar symbol - noted in ancient cultural mythologies. In Chinese mythology the three legged raven lives in the sun, representing the sun's three phases -rising, noon and setting. When the sun hits the raven's glossy feathers just right, they seem iridescent. In Greece the raven was a messenger of the sun gods, both Helios and Apollo. And, as a trickster, in Native American tales, the raven stole the sun, the moon and other earth elements prior to the creation of the world.

From a dichotomy of cultures a dichotomy of characterisation and symbolism exists with respect to the raven.

Three legs? Messenger? Trickster? The raven is atop its aerie positioned to command the sun.