Friday, June 22, 2012

The Language of the Birds




"The Language of the Birds"
inspired by The Language of the Birds, Russian folk tale
acrylic on birch panel
10 x 10 inches, framed
2012
$325.00
for "Myth", Modern Eden Gallery
(SOLD)

Here's my painting for the group show, "Myth" for San Francisco's Modern Eden Gallery.  It's based on the Russian folk tale of the same name, "The Language of the Birds".

In the tale, a young man yearns to learn the language of the birds upon hearing the sweet song of a nightingale.  After saving some baby birds, the mother of the babies agrees to teach him the language.  He then traveled home and could understand the nightingale's song; it is foretelling his future.  
Later in his life, when he has been separated from his parents, a king vows to award anyone the hand in marriage of his daughter if they can get three troublesome cawing crows away from his window.
The young man listens to the crows (a mother, father and child) and hears that they are arguing about which parent the child crow should follow.  The king tells the crows that the child should follow the father, and they fly away.
As a reward, the young man receives the hand of the princess and they live happily ever after.

In my painting, the nightingale sits singing in the upper left, and the crow family (albino in my version) perch chattering in the king's window, discussing which parent the child should follow.  The power triangle amulet hangs from the top of the window, which is for developing personal power.
The light pink colored cyclamen mean, "I understand you" in Floriography, the Victorian language of flowers.

The show, Myth opens July 14th, 6-10pm at
Modern Eden Gallery
403 Francisco St
San Francisco, California

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