Good Omen

In The Good Omen, three Indians have ridden into a remote canyon. It's an awesome place in the heart of the mountains, with red rock walls rising skyward. The way in and out is through a narrow pass. From here flight will not be easy.

Is this a place of good spirits or bad medicine? Black shadows lurk, but a shaft of sunlight falls like a benediction, turning river sand to gold. To be wary is not to show cowardice, for it is the natural duty of man to be constantly alert. The Indian accepts this balance, understands that nature is at once generous and unforgiving, moves through the world with his senses honed for peril or pleasure.

The Indians in this painting look up, fasten their gaze on something high in the sky. What do they see? As viewers, we follow their gaze and confront a mystery. What enthralls the Indians seems cut off from us. But the artist has told us all we need to know, told it in a way that leads us to use our own eyes, our own intelligence, our own imagination until (and it all happens in a flash) if we look down instead of up, we find reflected in the clear, cold mountain water, the good omen. A golden eagle.
Excerpt from Elise Maclay
"Occasionally, while hiking in the desert near my home, I'll be lucky enough to see a golden eagle. The sight of this great bird soaring free in its natural environment is always inspiring to me."

--- Bev Doolittle