artist statement

A Year of Ravens

Inspired by Lynda Barry's books, I started painting on any and all
surfaces - I painted ravens in the phone book, on postcards, on free
magnets that arrived in the mail, and on index cards. Painting on
index cards made it easier to turn off the editorial voice in my
head and just paint. I had a lot of index cards with ravens on them.
I was meditating every morning with
the ravens and each day recording what happened. I did not start out
to do it for a year, but just did it. The ravens chose me, as much as
I chose them.

Australian Ravens are smart and inquisitive. I enjoy watching them
figure out how to eat different types of food. They start off cautious
but are so curious. I learned a lot about ravens by watching them for
twenty minutes a day, day after day.

It took a few minutes each day to continue and fed my desire to
create. I like things in multiples. It is interesting to see what is
the same and what differs in each one. We are all individuals, and we
are also part of a group.

Vanessa Berry

http://vanessaberryworld.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/ravens/

so exciting - I love Vanessa's zines - check them out!

The Sydney Fringe

I spent a year watching ravens and writing down what I saw. I also painted a raven on an index card and used those for my observations. I submitted the work to the Sydney Fringe festival and it was accepted. Now I am working on framing and publicity.