Wednesday, May 25, 2011

CONTEMPORARY ART/ 'House of the Crow' by Eric Whollem, 1984/ NOTES ON THE PSYCHOPOMP/ A Pictographic Abstraction/ Mixed media drawing on paper



House of the Crow
1984
by Eric Whollem
mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
4 1/4' x 3 1/2"
COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

 CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

HOUSE OF THE CROW

My friend, Doug Mallory, had a pet crow, which he
named 'Ka.'  Of course, 'ka' is the ancient Egyptian
word for guardian spirit. Ka's favorite food was cheese.
And he would swoop through the air to snatch any
cheese that any unsuspecting person might happen to
be eating. He was tame enough to let loose in the garden;
as he liked to spend the night in his large cage under
the pecan tree.

This colored drawing is a 'portrait' of Ka.


THE PSYCHOPOMP

The crow features among Medicine Animals as
a psychopomp, or conductor to the otherworld. The
crow can warn of looming dangers.

The crow has featured in world folklore as the bird
of the Valkyries of Scandinavia, and as a manifestation
of Morrigan, the Sea Queen of Celtic lore.

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See more of my ABSTRACT ART on this link:



Whimsical Abstractions by Eric Whollem                        


Read more about the PSYCHOPOMP on Wikipedia:

*
Figurative abstraction, figurative expressionism.