ABOUT The Art of Mischief Series, Cynthia Johnson:

The seven pieces I painted for my “The Art of Mischief” series are the result of a wonderful collaboration with artist, Philip Carrera. Philip beautifully illustrated 20 stories which he collected from around the globe, each of which contains a mischief maker character. We chose seven of those stories to feature on opening night of the exhibit and I created an abstract painting inspired by an element of each story.

“How Raven Brought Light into the World” comes from the U.S. Pacific Northwest. It is an ancient tale that serves to illuminate facets of the truths found in stories which survive passing time and evolving cultures and remain relevant to us all.

Read the story below…

How Raven Brought Light into the World

Raven, who had existed from the beginning of time, was tired of fluttering about aimlessly and bumping into things in the dark. By chance one night, Raven came upon the mouth of a great river, where there lived a greedy chief and his only daughter. Through his slyness, Raven learned that the old man had been hoarding a great treasure. This treasure was All the Light in the Universe, contained inside a tiny box that was contained inside many more boxes.
At once! Raven vowed to steal it. He thought long and hard, and finally came up with a plan. He had watched the young woman go to the river to gather water every day. On this eve, he waited for her in a nearby tree. As she knelt to dip her basket into the river, he transformed himself into a tiny pine needle and dropped himself into the river, gently floating into the basket. As she took a drink, she swallowed the needle and it slithered down into her warm belly, where over time, Raven transformed himself again, steadily growing into a tiny human with rich, black hair.
However, Raven was not a normal little boy. He had been born with a raven’s beak, glowing eyes, and an insufferable temperament. With the hope of attaining the hidden treasure, Raven would often cry and shriek, like babies do, but his grandfather would never let him touch the tiny boxes. Instead, the Chief gave him a bag of shining stars to play with. Gurgling with excitement, the baby threw them through a smoke hole in the ceiling and watched them scatter into the sky. At once, the baby began to cry again, and his mother gave him a bag containing the moon, which pacified the baby who bounced it all over the room until, it too escaped through the hole.
At wit’s end, the old man handed the baby the tiny box, under the strict condition that he not open it. Box in hand, the child transformed back into his raven form, spread his wings, cried “Ka! Very much!”, and burst through the smoke-hole in the roof of the house with the tiny box secured firmly in his beak. Once safely in the darkness, he opened the tiny boxes and released the ball into the sky, where the sun has been giving light to the world ever since.

Images from THE ART OF MISCHIEF exhibition presented by LosJoCos, Los Angeles: