Rosalind Langford

The painting is the artists interpretations of stories of the “Willy Wagtail” and how its role as a “little messenger” and a Catcher of the Spirits of loved ones who have died and the journey of those spirits to the heavens – her parents. The painting is divided into 3 panels. 1st Panel tells the stories of the Willy Wag tail weaving gossamer webs to carry the spirit of a loved one to keep it safe on its journey to the belt of Orion. It is the artist’s interpretations of the story of the Willy Wagtail (the little spirit catcher) as told to the artist by her mother. If when you see a Willy Wagtail dancing near you and making the twit twit sound it is either bringing you news of a visitor or giving you a special message They also are the web weavers to catch the spirit of a loved one, and help the spirit to ascend to the heavens. When you hear the Willy Wagtails singing and shaking their tails, they are spinning a web to catch the spirit of your loved one. The artist painted this painting in dedication of her mother. Two Willy Wagtails visited her when her mother was ill. She was told they were there to catch her mother’s spirit. The artist then knew her mother would pass away that night. In the early hours of the next morning her mother’s spirit departed from its earthly form. The Willy Wagtail came and visited her family on the day of her mother’s funeral. The artist believed that they came back to tell her that her mother’s spirit was now safe and happy. 2nd Panel shows the “Spirit Catchers” placing the spirit in its safe haven in the heavens. 3rd Panel. The centre figure is the guardian spirit of the Spirit Catchers The guardian Spirit imparts the knowledge to the Spirit Catchers of who they must weave the next web for and to impart knowledge to the Catcher to take back to the loved one’s family a message of hope, healing and love. The Feathers in the panel is the artists interpretation of a “message”. Often in the past a bird’s quill was used to impart a message. The symbol of a Willy Wagtail’s feather is the artist’s interpretation of the Spirit Catcher returning from the heavens with a message to the loved ones family. The U symbol is people on earth receiving their message.