My Favorite Painting

This painting named “I Am Crow” was painted by the artist Kirby Sattler. The painting was done sometime in the 1990’s. The style of painting Sattler uses is called realism, which means painting objects or people the way they really are. This painting is of a Native American Indian wearing his crow hat to indicate how high and powerful he is on the totem pole. The pigments Sattler used is very dull and plain, there are not too many hues in this painting. He is covered in feathers which is probably decorative and maybe even for spiritual reasons and superstitious. He is wearing necklaces, beads, and earrings. Then painting on his face is probably to try and camouflage himself while hunting down wild animals for dinner.

The reason I chose this particular painting is because indigenous people always fascinated me, particularly the Native Americans. As one can see in the painting, Crow’s face looks like he has been through many troubles in his life, maybe because of the Pilgrims that invaded their country or maybe all the hardships of trying to get food, and many other reasons as well. There is just a certain look on his face that tells me that he a warrior and if someone ever wanted to get into a battle with him, he would definitely know how to defend himself. I also love how well-detailed this painting is. The wrinkles on his forehead and under his eyes and his nappy hair just intrigues me. The well-defined texture and surfaces really caught my eye. I also love the spiritual beliefs that Native Americans posses. Like how certain people posses certain animal characteristics. I find it very interesting how the Native Americans were able to survive with different medicines than we use today. Today people use medicines such as Tylenol or Asprin to get rid of headaches, but the Native Americans did not. They mostly used herbal remedies and natural herbs to cure illnesses and diseases. I am also fascinated by the way they had animal names such as Running Turtle or Lightening Horse. I wonder if there was any specific reason for those names.

The artist that made this wonderful painting is also fascinated by the indigenous people of the earth. The artists detailed paintings examine the relationship between the Indian and his natural world. Each painting functions on the premise that all natural phenomena have souls independent of their physical beings. Under such a belief, the wearing of sacred objects were a source of spiritual power.

Overall I love this painting. It has so much to say about the Native Americans and so much about the artist, Kirby Sattler.