Raven Brings the Salmon

Title: Raven Brings the Salmon
LC Subject: Painting Triptychs Acrylic painting Fishes Ravens mixed media painting (image-making) paintings (visual works) pastels (visual works) acrylic paint crayons (drawing material)
Creator: Hatfield, Audrey May
Description: A painting of a large black raven on the left side of the piece with it's mouth open and small fish jumping out into the river. The blue river contains numerous salmon all swimming towards the right of the picture plane. In the background consists of forested mountains. Audrey Hatfield; Raven Brings the Salmon; 2000; Ampersand Boards; Acrylic and Mix Media; 42 x 90 inches The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
View: full
Location: Richardson Hall >> Benton County >> Oregon >> United States Benton County >> Oregon >> United States
Street Address: 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, Oregon
Date: 1975/2012
Identifier: 1998_osu_forest-ecosys_04_a01
Accession Number: 1998_osu_forest-ecosys_04_a01
Rights: In Copyright
Dc Rights Holder: Hatfield, Audrey May
Type: Image
Format: image/tiff
Measurements: 42 x 90 inches
Material: Painting mixed media/triptych painting; golden acrylics; gel water soluable crayons; pastels; nupastel and alderwood
Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Primary Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Relation: 1998-2000 Oregon State University Richardson Hall Forest Ecosystem 1998_osu_forest-ecosys
Has Version: slide; color
Institution: Oregon Arts Commission University of Oregon
Color Space: RGB
Biographical Information: I was raised in Milwaukie, Oregon. I developed a strong interest in art before middle school, but it was Ann Mckosh, then with Maude Kerns Art Gallery, who finally convinced me that it wouldn't be irresponsible to get a degree in fine art. I took a degree from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 1987. Victoria Frey of Quartersaw Gallery, gave me an early opportunity to show after graduation. Since then, I have been making space for painting while enjoying my family, and my love for deep snow and mountain spaces, in Bend, Oregon. I am fascinated by ancient peoples and how old the earth is. I am intrigued by old stories and myths that give explanations to age old questions. They often portray the natural world with reverence and respect. Painting is my way of working out my questions about life's mystery. I try to keep that feeling of mystery and open meaning in my images. I paint animals, fish, water and landscape as symbols of the continuity of life's cycles. I begin the process by placing a few marks, varied lines, and smudges. I add wet color washes and draw marks in puddles of pigment. From wet to dry, I build upon layers. A figure catches my eye, and the story begins. Blurring my focus, I can visualize the composition from my gestures, like seeing figures in the clouds. The greatest motivation for me to paint is the feeling. The images arrive, whispering to my consciousness. In Native American myths, all things in nature have a special kind of life, and are personified. Humans and animals-move freely between their worlds. These myths tell of a time when the spirits of humans and animals were intertwined. Their personalized view of nature can cultivate respect and reverence for the earth, and effect how we make decisions in using earth's resources. The raven, salmon/water, and fir trees are the focus in my painting Raven Brings the Salmon. In native myths and legends, the raven is a powerful creator and trickster character. In one story, The Raven Steals the Salmon from the Beaver House, from the Haida tribe, Raven steals salmon from the beavers by turning lakes, rivers, and streams into a roll and carries them away in his strong beak. Some of the water and fish fell from the roll, and created many lakes and streams along the Pacific Northwest coast. Raven's final destination was the Haida Islands, which were spattered with little lakes and small but rich streams. Even today, those streams are refuge each year for millions of spawning salmon. Richard Nelson, in Making Prayers to Raven, describes stories from the Koyukon people of Alaska, and gives an example of how trees are personified in myth by the Koyukon: Mink-man went to several tree-women and told them that their husband Raven had been killed. When one women heard the story, she cried and pinched her skin. Then she was changed into a spruce tree, with its rough and pinched bark. When another heard it, she cried and slit her skin with a knife. She became a poplar, with its deeply cut bark. When a third woman was told the story, she cried and pinched herself until she bled. She turned into the alder, whose bark is used to make red dye. These stories contributed to the image of my painting Raven Brings the Salmon. There are three separate stories that flow one into the other. There are three paintings, framed as one, combined in a balance to symbolize earth, water, and air, and the interdependence of each. (Hatfield, 1999)