During one particularly dark, cold and depressing winter, Montezuma-Cortez High School art instructor Sharon Englehart found inspiration in an unlikely creature.
I started watching ravens, she said. They were on my snowbanks. They were at the feeders. They were interacting with all the wildlife. They were just incredibly fascinating. I started to see that they had a much broader perspective than I did.
Contrary to the ghastly grim and ancient raven that was the antagonist of Edgar Allen Poes famous poem, Englehart said the ravens she observed were social and playful.
It wasnt just about survival, because I was feeding them, she said. Its probably just my imagination, but it seemed to me they were telling stories about what they had seen and where they had been.
The ravens became the subject of a series of mixed-media paintings on display at Spruce Tree Coffeehouse in Cortez.
To draw and paint them is interesting, because theyre basically black, she said.So how do you create detail, line and definition within forms that are just black on black? And that was just kind of a cool creative problem to try to solve.
To capture details of the birds, Englehart used layers of spray paint and ink.
I figured out that there is a ton of variables within what we think are solid colors, she said. By the same token, I figured out that there is always a lot of variation in terms of that darkness or blackness that we all struggle with emotionally.
So the paintings have been incredibly therapeutic for me.
A teacher off and on since 1978, Englehart started with English and now teaches ceramics, sculpture, photography and a class entitled Native Hands, Native Voices, aimed at Native American students who excel at art but have difficulty with formal reading and writing.
This class is an art class, but it brings in a lot of history and culture with the Diné (Navajo) tribe and the Ute tribe, Englehart said. We do a lot of reading and look at some writing assignments. So its an attempt to use art to deal with those academic classes.
Engleharts raven series is on display at the coffeehouse, 318 E. Main St., for the remainder of the month. She can be contacted at 564-9833.
Reach Reid Wright at reidw@cortezjournal.com.
