New Takes on Traditional Stories With Garth Stein

Raven's First Dance
Blown and sand carved glass
20" x 14" x 19"

Now it happens that Raven saw a dark hollow in the wooded slope of a mountain and Raven alit at the edge of that hollow and he looked into the darkness, and he saw nothing, so he stepped inside and out of the wind.

As Raven ventured deeper into that cave, he could smell things, wet fur and fish and dry wood, and he could see by the light of a warm fire that he was in someone’s house, but since that someone was not home, Raven thought, he could make use of the house until such time he was asked to vacate. So he warmed himself by the fire. It was a nice fire and it warmed him well.

It was not long before the cave’s denizen, a rotund and cranky Bear, returned home to find Raven stealing the warmth from Bear’s fire. “Give me back my warmth!” Bear growled. He attempted to grab Raven and shake the warmth from him, but Raven leapt into the air and hopped away with such élan, Bear was impressed. “You are very clever, White Bird, ”Bear said, for this was so long ago, before Raven had learned to color his feathers black, and for this reason, Bear did not know with whom he was contending. “But my bear nature will smother you eventually. ”Bear chased Raven around like that for quite awhile, getting his hands nearly around Raven’s neck only to have Raven duck away, spin and kick, and hold two-three-four. Soon, Bear grew so tired he hardly reached for Raven, but Raven still jab-stepped, jab-stepped, twirled and stag-leap away, until Bear sat back and laughed. “You keep running, White Bird, ”Bear said. “And I’m not even chasing you.”

“I’m not running,” replied Raven. “I’m dancing!”
“Dancing!” Bear cried. “Ho, ho! Dance, White Bird! Dance!”
And that was Raven’s First Dance. And we have been dancing ever since.

Heh.

See more from the Raven Opened the Door to the Ocean exhibit at Blue Rain Gallery.

Raven’s Nest
Blown and sand carved glass
19” x 13” x 25”

Listen to the rain. Listen to the wind.

That is what it sounded like as Raven returned to his home, a storm blowing in hard. When he returned to his house, Raven discovered a very annoying thing awaiting him: a little red bird, soaked to the bone, freezing and afraid, cowering in the corner of Raven’s nest.

At first, Raven was irritated by his uninvited guest. Raven had been through much and he was tired and wanted some “me” time. Some alone time. He began to push the little red bird toward the door.

‘Yeep’, the little red bird said, and Raven stopped. He remembered his own experience, when he sought refuge in Bear’s cave. Bear did not shuttle Raven out of the cave and into the rain; he welcomed Raven; he fed Raven; he restored Raven.

See more from the Raven Opened the Door to the Ocean exhibit at Blue Rain Gallery.

Gossip
Blown and sand carved glass
6.5" x 20"

"Why do the People act so badly?” asked Raven of the shaman.

“Because they have not seen what you have seen,” said the shaman. “They think they are alone and separate and therefore matter little to the world at large, when in fact, every grain of sand is important to a beach.”

“That is a big concept,” said Raven. “Can we explain it to them?”

“The world is full of words,” said the Shaman, removing the Trance Mask from Raven’s face.

“Words allow us to communicate with each other,” Raven said.

“Words are full of lies,” said the shaman. “Words are lazy and sloppy. Words are used to deceive and mislead. Words convince you that what you are doing is right or wrong, or good or bad. Words distort and alter reality and truth. Words make up endless contradictory ideas that swarm with ferocity like flesh-eating gnats. Words are so confusing, People are overcome with despair and don’t know what to believe, so they believe nothing. When there are a thousand truths, there are no truths at all.”

“Ah,” said Raven. “I have an idea. I will steal all the words!”

Raven left the shaman and flew long and hard until he found a man who was speaking with words. Raven knocked down that man and jumped on his head.

“What are you doing?” the man cried.

“I am stealing your words so you can do no harm!” Raven yelled, and he grabbed the man’s tongue with his beak and pulled.

Raven pulled and pulled with all his might. The man’s tongue stretched, but it did not break off.

“Give me those words, you Contriver!” Raven shouted. “You Speaker of False Truths! Conveyer of Misinformation and Disinformation! You Demon of Rhetoric!”

Raven pulled. The man screamed. And the words?

The words were not in the man’s mouth, as Raven thought. And the tongue would not be pulled out, as Raven planned. So Raven grew tired and left the man, stunned, on the beach.

See more from the Raven Opened the Door to the Ocean exhibit at Blue Rain Gallery.

Raven Goes to Sleep
Blown and sand carved glass
17" x 10" x 2.5"

When you wake up but do not awaken. When you wake up and you know that you are asleep, that is when you are in Raven’s World, and that is when you can truly see the world as it is around you.

Heh.

See more from the Raven Opened the Door to the Ocean exhibit at Blue Rain Gallery.