RAVEN TAKES A STROLL (detail) :: BY JO-ANN GILBANKS CORDES
Doug and I went to the annual Mark Twain Library Art Show Gala in December. It’s a very fun event in our small town - lots of people, lots of art, plenty of passed canapés and champagne. Of course I haven’t had any alcohol in ages - my kidneys are busy enough dealing with the chemo cocktails.
I visited the library the afternoon before the gala and I was gobsmacked because, as I walked into the library, I was stopped dead in my tracks by this incredible bird, a great big black raven, and he was looking straight at me. I love birds, blackbirds in particular - crows, ravens, call them what you will. And my spirit animal, who showed up to help me with my cancer journey, is a bird. I like to think now that it is a raven.
That evening I was first in line when the doors opened. I went straight to the acquisitions desk and made Raven Takes a Stroll mine. I was thrilled to know this painting would eventually be at home with me.
At one point in the evening, I noticed two women gazing upon "my" painting and I joined them. "Do you love it?" I asked. Oh, yes. they did. "Well, it’s MINE!" Kind of cheeky of me, but I was feeling giddy and they didn’t mind at all ... because, one of them was the artist, Jo-Ann Cordes! She and I proceeded to have a wonderful conversation about what the painting means to each of us and, upon discovering we live in neighboring towns, promised to get together in the new year.
FROM "MY" CHAIR IN THE FAMILY ROOM :: I SEE THE RAVEN AND THE RAVEN SEES ME.
For those of you who are in southwestern Connecticut, Cordes’ Ravens are on display at the Bethel Public Library, through February 21st (an extension of the show’s original end date). If you’d like to read an article about her and the show, click HERE.
Want to know more Raven Lore? Click HERE.