Ravens love shiny things, they are curious and they are mischievous! I love designing glass with their imagery in it. One of my favorite stories is the raven and the sun.

Here is the story that inspired me to create one of my most popular designs; Raven Steals the Sun

This is an ancient story told on the Queen Charlotte Islands and includes how Raven helped to bring the Sun, Moon, Stars, Fresh Water, and Fire to the world.

Long ago, near the beginning of the world, Gray Eagle was the guardian of the Sun, Moon and Stars, of fresh water, and of fire. Gray Eagle hated people so much that he kept these things hidden. People lived in darkness, without fire and without fresh water.

Gray Eagle had a beautiful daughter, and Raven fell in love with her. In the beginning, Raven was a snow-white bird, and as a such, he pleased Gray Eagle's daughter. She invited him to her father's longhouse.

When Raven saw the Sun, Moon and stars, and fresh water hanging on the sides of Eagle's lodge, he knew what he should do. He watched for his chance to seize them when no one was looking. He stole all of them, and a brand of fire also, and flew out of the longhouse through the smoke hole. As soon as Raven got outside he hung the Sun up in the sky. It made so much light that he was able to fly far out to an island in the middle of the ocean. When the Sun set, he fastened the Moon up in the sky and hung the stars around in different places. By this new light he kept on flying, carrying with him the fresh water and the brand of fire he had stolen.

He flew back over the land. When he had reached the right place, he dropped all the water he had stolen. It fell to the ground and there became the source of all the fresh-water streams and lakes in the world. Then Raven flew on, holding the brand of fire in his bill. The smoke from the fire blew back over his white feathers and made them black. When his bill began to burn, he had to drop the firebrand. It struck rocks and hid itself within them. That is why, if you strike two stones together, sparks of fire will drop out.

Raven's feathers never became white again after they were blackened by the smoke from the firebrand. That is why Raven is now a black bird.

April 2nd is First Friday Artwalk. I will be showing my work at Cafe Daily Fare, 408 East Route 66, located in the old ice house, just 2 blocks east of The Green Room down the alley. Join us from 6 -9 pm!

Norma Russell Sheff Posted this to my FaceBook page, but I just had to post it here. Some of the best inspration comes from our friends.

Thank You Norma!

Many Blessings to you,
Christina


This is in the Unitarian Church in Las Cruces, NM. It's Clyde Tombaugh polishing a telescope mirror. This is only one portion of a whole wall. There is a raven behind him.

EARTHSHINE

Today I see Clyde Tombaugh polishing a telescope mirror, his image caught forever, almost, in the stained glass window of the Unitarian church.

He will polish it, polish it fine, until the stained glass is gone,
the mauve jewelers’ rouge running off the squat glass cylinder in a ferric oxide flood. Pluto exists.

Clyde’s eyes, unnaturally clear and blue, meet my gaze
over his sinewed hands, as planets circle
and galaxies beckon,
and I remember earthshine.

Just when night is darkest on the mountain trail,
seven humans straggle back to camp
from the waterfall, without a light, convinced
we cannot navigate like the silent owls,
nor like lions, with their shining eyes;
that as creation’s least-natural foster children, we are here
less competent than the nimble-fingered tarsier;
only human, dispossessed, and far from at home
in the world of night.

It’s night! we say, No moon!
There’s nothing out there! Only stars!!

Slowly, we realize that we have begun to see;
a subtle glow emanates from an unknown source
… the sky? We can discern trees, the path,
an occasional patch of phosphorescence,
rocks, a dim horizon, on this dark side
of our world.

Too long we have bent our heads and shielded our gaze
before the gods of the city lights, thinking them real;
to remember that we should name, or even see,
planets, galaxies, great individual stars.
Our sight is dulled by angled things.

The truth is:

The earth shines beneath our feet.

Whose telescope now watches this unexplored world,
and sees us choosing to stumble, blind,
surrounded by light?

Norma Russell Sheff

This was the my passage from the Daily Word today. It is the perfect blessing for me, now that I have a new space to live and to create in. I am so blessed!!

Thanks!

I bless my home as a place of comfort and rest, a place where beauty and graciousness are expressed and experienced. The atmosphere of my home is permeated with love and peace, light and sunshine. My home is a space for refreshment, renewal and mental and physical well-being because the love of God is reflected in this space.

I bless and value everyone who enters my home. I practice patience, cooperation and respect and do all I can to create a haven where every family member and guest feels God's spirit of love, peace and joy within these walls.

I am grateful for my home and for the privilege it affords me of expressing grace, beauty and hospitality.

Facebook | Raven's Eye Glassworks

Facebook | Raven's Eye Glassworks

Here are a few images that were visually inspiring from Costa Rica. And then there were the birds, Macaws, Toucans, Parrots, Humming birds! Butter flies... The Magnificent Blue Morpho! The first time I saw one I was returned to my childhood chasing it down a jungle road. So big and blue, it almost seems surreal!

I am back from the jungle paradise of Costa Rica. I am full of inspiration! I played in the ocean and I saw breath taking displays of the glory of nature.

This piece,"Place of My Strength" is on exhibit at the High Country Conference Center on the campus of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. It measures 36"x44" and is framed in red oak. It is my homage to a giant Alligator Juniper.

Just past the Flag mall, there is a well-known trail called Fat Man’s Loop. At the top of this loop just east of the turn off that climbs to Elden lookout, sits a massive Alligator Juniper just above the trail. She is centuries old with many branches reaching out in a nurturing canopy. There is a boulder to sit on and a branch to lean on. I go there to pay my respects and give thanks for so many things…

This incredible piece is available for purchase. Please contact me for more information on how to have this uniquely original work of art. 928-699-6824

Blessings,
Christina