Demon Bird

"Demon Bird"

inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven

acrylic on birch panel

8 x 10 inches, plus frame

2012

$350.00

available HERE

Here's my painting for Modern Eden Gallery's upcoming Nevermore show, based on Edgar Allen Poe's immortal poem, "The Raven".

I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this show, as I've been a fan of Poe, and especially this poem since I was a kid.  I remember reading it in elementary school on my own, and being fascinated by the imagery it conjured in my head.

And then I memorized it after seeing the episode of "The Simpsons" where they did their own version of The Raven in a Halloween special; Bart was the raven, and Homer, the narrator.

I still can't read the poem or imagine the words without hearing Homer's voice in my head!

For my version, I decided to focus on the idea of the raven being seen as a demon; evil, taunting the narrator, like a "devil bird".  Poe refers to books that the narrator is reading, alluding that they are about the occult, or black magic, so I decided to give my albino raven ghostly horns, and added the Death and Devil tarot cards.  I added champagne colored roses, which mean "devotion" in Floriography, since the overarching theme of the poem is undying devotion.

My raven is perched on the bust of Pallus, where her face is that of the long departed Lenore; the narrator's lost love that he cannot forget.

The show accompanies the amazing new work of one of my favorite artists, Leilani Bustamante, and there are many more of my favorite artists showing in the Nevermore show as well!

Check it out this Saturday in San Francisco!

Tomorrow will be "Myth"-ic

Tomorrow is "Myth" at Modern Eden Gallery!

My painting, "The Language of the Birds" will be there alongside 

many other great artists that I admire.

"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

call (415)956-3303 or email info@moderneden.com for inquiries or

click HERE to purchase

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