Raven stole the Sun.....

Long ago, near the beginning of the world, Gray Eagle was the guardian of the Sun, Moon and Stars, of fresh water, and of fire. Gray Eagle hated people so much that he kept these things hidden. People lived in darkness, without fire and without fresh water.

Gray Eagle had a beautiful daughter, and Raven fell in love with her. In the beginning, Raven was a snow-white bird, and as a such, he pleased Gray Eagle's daughter. She invited him to her father's longhouse.

When Raven saw the Sun, Moon and stars, and fresh water hanging on the sides of Eagle's lodge, he knew what he should do. He watched for his chance to seize them when no one was looking. He stole all of them, and a brand of fire also, and flew out of the longhouse through the smoke hole. As soon as Raven got outside he hung the Sun up in the sky. It made so much light that he was able to fly far out to an island in the middle of the ocean. When the Sun set, he fastened the Moon up in the sky and hung the stars around in different places. By this new light he kept on flying, carrying with him the fresh water and the brand of fire he had stolen.

He flew back over the land. When he had reached the right place, he dropped all the water he had stolen. It fell to the ground and there became the source of all the fresh-water streams and lakes in the world. Then Raven flew on, holding the brand of fire in his bill. The smoke from the fire blew back over his white feathers and made them black. When his bill began to burn, he had to drop the firebrand. It struck rocks and hid itself within them. That is why, if you strike two stones together, sparks of fire will drop out.

Raven's feathers never became white again after they were blackened by the smoke from the firebrand. That is why Raven is now a black bird.

Good Medicine

You can never have enough good medicine

My brother the star, my mother the earth
My father the sun, my sister the moon
To live give beauty, to my body give strenght
To my corn give goodness, to my house give peace
To my spirit give truth, to my elders give wisdom

(Native American prayer)       

Spirit of the Polar bear

The polar bears are very dear to my heart. I have always been fascinated by these magnificent creatures.
To raise awareness about the decline in their population but especially the threat to their environment I made this doll. I truly believe that somewhere out there, there really is a spirit that watches over them and protects them. We can not afford to loose these  beautiful animals to extinction.

Waiting to Fly

A few weeks ago a dear friend gave me this little birdcage. She thought maybe I could something with it. I put it in my studio and waited for inspiration to come.  It didn't take very long before I knew what I was going to do with it.

I was thinking about the song "Crazy" by Seal

In a sky full of people only some want to fly
Isn't that crazy
In a world full of people only some want to fly
Isn't that crazy
In a heaven of people there's only some want to fly
Ain't that crazy
In a world full of people there's only some want to fly
Isn't that crazy

But we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy

It is so important they we find our passion in life, break out of our cage, reach for the sky and soar!

The legend of Sedna

The story of how Sedna became a sea goddess varies from one region to the next.
However, in all versions, she was a young woman that becomes the mother
of all sea creatures and controls the availability of sea animals to Inuit hunters.
Sedna lived in the Arctic with her mother and father. She had plenty of food and
warm furs to wear. She was so content that she refused to marry any of the many
Inuit men that desired Sedna for a wife.
Untill one particular Inuk came to visit Sedna. He promised her everything her heart
desired. She agreed to marry him. After they became husband and wife, he took her away
to his island. Once alone with her on the island, he revealed to her that he was not
a man, but a bird dressed up like a man. Sedna was trapped. The birdman was a
a terrible hunter, he could only catch fish. Sedna got very tired of eating fish everyday.
One day Sedna's father came to visit. After seeing how unhappy his daughter was,
he killed the birdman and Sedna and her dad got into his kayak and went home.
As soon as the friends of the birdman discovered what happened, they wanted to
avenge their friends death. They flew above the kayak and flapped their wings so hard that
it resulted in a huge storm. Frightened that the kayak would fill with water and that they would
sink and drown, he threw Sedna overboard, hoping this would please the birds. But it did not.
Sedna held on to the kayak.
Fearing that she would tip the kayak over, the father cut all her fingers off.
From each of her fingers different sea creatures were born.
They became fish, whales, seals and dolphins.
Sedna sank to the bottom of the ocean and that is now her home.
Sedna controls all of the animals of the sea. The Inuit who rely on these animals want to
maintain a good relationship with Sedna.If the hunters do not catch anything for a long time,
the Shaman will transform himself into a fish and swim to the bottom of the
ocean and will comb Sedna's hair and put it in braids. This pleases Sedna since she has no fingers.
When sedna is happy, she will allow her animals to make them self available to the hunters.

The messenger

A few months ago I decided to make a raven fairy godmother and although I liked the way she came out, I was never crazy about her. A lot of people liked her but she never found a new home. I have learned over the years to go with my inner feeling and decided to make her into a different doll. It came to me when I was at one of the craft shows here in Fairbanks. A woman came up to me and while she looked at my dolls displayed on the table whispered: " you are a very brave person......don't you know that ravens are the messengers from the other side" Tha's when I knew I was going to change fairy godmother into "the Messenger"
I have always been fascinated by these incredible birds but never knew how special they are until one day a few years ago. I had just moved to a new area.  Beautiful Two Rivers, Alaska. I was living on 80 acres. Behind our property nothing but thousands of acres of state land with miles and miles of trails. One beautiful day I took the dogs for a nice long walk in the woods. Some how during this walk I realized that I was no longer on the trail and I had no idea where I was. Everything looked the same. It was getting dark and I was really getting worried. Then I heard a raven calling high up in a tree.
I still don't know why, but I decided to follow this raven but I did and to my surprise after about an half hour walk I ended back on trail and was able to make my way home. Maybe someone on the other side was worried about me and used the raven to make sure I would get home safe.
The messenger comes from far you bring us messages from the other side, all we have to do is open our heart and listen.

Coincidence?......I don't think so

As most of you know, my biggest passion in life is animals. I have worked most of my life in animal shelters. I have a great appreciation for anyone that tries to make a difference in the lives of animals. One of these people is Miriam Cooper, an amazing woman who has dedicated her life to sled dogs and also happens to be an great artist and writer. It is always a pleasure to read her blog.
 Take a moment to visit her website: http://alaskaspiritwalk.com/ 
To show her my appreciation for what she does, I told her I wanted to donate a doll that she can use for a fundraiser. It took a long time but one day it came to me. I made a doll named Lupricus, the wolf god of winter.

 When I gave him to Miriam I told her that she didn't have to use him for a fundraiser, I felt he was made to be with her to watch over her and the dogs.
When I create a doll I will have a plan but too often that is not what comes out. I have stopped trying to understand how or why this happens.......Lupricus is one of those dolls but I think it's best to let Miriam explain why in her blog, check it out: http://leaddoggraphics.blogspot.com/2011/07/catching-up.html
I promise it is worth the read but make sure to have some tissues close by.