Elijah in the wilderness is a story of great drama. Equally compelling to me is the tale's symbolic power, as the name of the individual who commissioned the work is Kerith.

Elijah was a forceful prophet whose attributes are Ravens and a bright "wheel" in which, upon his death, he ascended to Heaven. The story goes that during a prolonged drought he went to live by the brook of Cherith (or Kerith) which still ran. There he received food from Ravens each morning and evening.

The theme that binds the entire triptych is the physical and spiritual worlds united through the dualistic and beneficent effects of the brook of Cherith. Therefore, the brook is symbolically rendered in pure gold leaf, creating a very stylized aspect of spiritual purity; but the gold also gives the brook a very tangible presence. This spiritual/physical duality is stressed throughout the work.

First, the composition is filled with earthy elements like trees, stone, dirt, and dusty foliage only to have them reworked in other areas as stylized elements like the silhouettes of the creek side grasses, the stage-like boulders, or, most especially, in Elijah's magnificent halo. Also, the composition is split horizontally between the tangible wilderness (physical) at the bottom and the mysterious void of the sky area (metaphysical).

Next, the palette furthers the interplay of the real and the numinous. The ruddy pink flesh of the figures, dry grasses, stone, and dirt stands in contrast to the spiritual world as represented by the shining gold leaf, the colorful cloaks and wings of the Angels, and especially by the Heavenly, ethereal verdant colors of the Halo.

Lastly, there are numerous symbolic elements that propel the imagery and narrative. The halo backlighting Elijah is an allusion to the wheel that took the prophet to Heaven and also a visual metaphor of the gifts, or bounty, from God. The two flanking Angels strike another symbolic note. The cloak of the Angel on the left holds a stalk of wheat signifying the physical world. The cloak of the Angel on the right has three Raven feathers stuck in it alluding to the spiritual world. The spectacular Ravens, in a group of the all important number 3, function like intermediaries between the two realms. For those of us who truly love and respect the Raven, no other animal conveys that mysterious, privileged ability to straddle the line between the tangible and the intangible, the earthly and the divine.

Much like the Raven, art can bridge the physical and spiritual. A great story filled with meanings, both personal and archetypal, which is then rendered in a unique visual language, elevates the subject and the viewer into a world of wonder and sublimity.

28 1/2" h x 17" w

warm stumped conte, watercolor, gouache, pencil with

23.6k Dream Gold leaf and 22k French Pale Gold leaf

on hand tinted Rives BFK paper

28 1/2" h x 28 1/2" w

warm stumped conte, watercolor, gouache, pencil with

23.6k Dream Gold leaf and 22k French Pale Gold leaf

on hand tinted Rives BFK paper

28 1/2" h x 17" w

warm stumped conte, watercolor, gouache, pencil with

23.6k Dream Gold leaf and 22k French Pale Gold leaf

on hand tinted Rives BFK paper