Created especially for the EBSQ show "Icons and Legends" This is my interpretation of the ancient Egyptian myth of Ra and Apophis.

As the story goes, the priests of Ra, the sun god, would chant all through the night to ensure Ra's successful journey on his ship and his return in the morning to light the new day. Each night, Apophis, the divine sea serpent , tried to destroy Ra's ship as he traveled.

The stories tell how each morning Ra, the patron god of all pharoahs, recreates the heavens and the earth, and then creates the gods to serve as allies against Apophis, whom they paralyze with curses, and thus allowing a new day to dawn.

"Ra the Sun, the Almighty God, appeared and said:

"I am who [I] am!

I am Kephri, the Lifegiver!

When I-Ra the Sun-appeared,

Life appeared. . . ."

While ignorant by today's cosmologies, the story of Ra and the Serpent hold truths of the polarization of day verses night, of good versus evil, and light versus darkness and embodies the human struggle with evil. The story captures the worldview of an ancient civilization, as humans attempted to describe and understand the world in which they lived.

The canvas was prepped with white Gesso, then a preliminary layer was added in oil pastels to bring immense texture to the painting. Final coats in acrylics really make this a colorful piece, and the completed work was varnished for UV protection. All sides of the canvas have been finished, so this piece is ready to hang and requires no framing.