Merlin and the Golden Moon - Raven by Craig Kosak

Merlin and the Golden Moon by Craig Kosak, available from Prickly Pear Galleries.

Ravens are one of the four animals that dominate artist Craig Kosak’s work (wolves, horse and bison are the others). Each represents a particular connection he has made on his travels.

“Ravens guide me to accept my most secret self,” he says, “my uniqueness, to celebrate who I am. Experiences with wildlife show me what to paint, photographs help with the basics, then I use my inner vision to idealize, fantasize and anthropomorphize,” he says.

“My trips consist of both journeys through the physical world and inner journeys of self-discovery,” he says. “My paintings are about both worlds and how they relate. Each trip is, in a sense, a vision quest.”

The raven is intertwined in legends and mythology of many ancient cultures including Native American, Celtic and Norse, as the embodiment of secrets and magic, introspection and self-knowledge, traits often shared with the moon in art and literature. Kosak met this particular raven, Merlin, at Yellowstone National Park where he seemed content to pose with his beak white-tipped from poking in the geyser’s mineral-rich debris. The plumb line he holds suggests a dividing line between the inner and outer world and also hints at the intelligence and playful nature of the raven as trickster.

Released January 2013