Canada Dreams

Last Lap honours a very special experience I had after the death of my father. My father shot me a disgusted look when I refused to take him home from the hospital. I had done many things for my dad in our time together, but there was no way I could bring him home, and no nursing home space available in my area. I knew that my father's response was unfair, but still it bothered me. That, and my uncertainty with my B.A. program at Vermont College, sent me out to the field with my sleeping bag one night in October to sleep under the stars. Feeling the earth under me and the wind and sky above me, renewed my connection to the earth.
In the morning I sent the women-folk off to school and went out the back to hang up laundry. I bent down to pick up a shirt and a clothes peg. When straightening up, I saw Golden Eagle land in the black spruce over my right shoulder. We don't have Golden Eagles in this area, or any other kind of eagles for that matter. It was a stunning experience. The whole top of the tree bent over with the weight of the bird. He was about to fold his wings when he saw me. He looked in my eyes and I saw the look I wanted from my Dad. Then he unfolded his wings and flew. I feel that this was Dad's spirit or psychopomp finishing an important task before he left.
The oil was painted twice; first I painted the eagle yellow and the tree red. In the red branches, I could see dead Indian warriors. The golden brown of the eagle is achieved by painting the yellow over with purple. Yellow is male energy and the purple is a royal colour.

The oil is 30"X40" in a wooden frame. Completed in the Fall of 1992. $1500.00 Can. framed.

Entrance to John's works, The Bull Dream, Primitive Truth, The Messengers, Inner Realm, The Ancestors, and Current

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