Three Sisters

OK, so there were three crow sisters, not two. One died a few years before the other two.

I was thinking about this while I was painting today. I was thinking about how close those three sisters were. Living together all those years. Sharing their lives for over eight decades. What must it have been like to watch your sister go. What must it have been like to be the last one left? Sometimes life is so sad that I can’t even bare it.

I was also thinking about crows and how they share their life with one partner. Birds are often like this, aren’t they? monogamous. Maybe it is my Catholic up bringing but when ever I hear about animals that are monogamous I feel even more of an affinity to them. Kind of silly, I guess.

Crows will also do this very strange kind of memorial service for a crow that has been killed. They will all gather for a moment of silence and then disperse. Without a sound.

I am sure you have seen a crow standing at the side of the road looking down at his dead kin. I have even seen them prod them gently with his beak as if to try to get them to move. I have always been touched by this seen. There was no doubt in my mind that I was witnessing immense grief in this animal.

This new painting is about all of these things. Companionship. Grief. Ghosts. It is in progress.
We are are here, and then we are gone.
Sorry for being so morbid today. I don’t mean to be a downer.