In Greek mythology, the three fates’ combined powers were more powerful than even Zeus. The first fate is the spinner, spinning the thread of life. The second fate is the weaver creating the tapestry of your life and the third fate cuts the thread bringing your life to a close. I have been fascinated by the fates for a long time. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is having an entity that is in charge of the various components of life. Or maybe it is the realization that we do not have control of our lives. I have visited the theme of the three fates in several ways during my career. In college, I was interested in abstract composition and so the fates took the form of geometric shapes, triangles and squares.
The 3 Fates1
The 3 Fates 2
The 3 Fates 3
Lucy’s Fate
Another image of the Fates Focused on my granddaughter Lucy. In this image, there are storks in flight swooping down from the sky. The strokes are the thread of life beginning. Below is a large portrait of Lucy on a background of fabric in three colors The beginning of the tapestry of her life without much form. The last fate is missing. She is young and has her life ahead of her. The fate that cuts the thread has yet to be realized.
Fate no 1
The Spinner
Birds are a particularly strong image of grace and beauty, but they also are fragile and delicate. My focus was on how birds could be represented as the fates. After some thoughtful consideration I decided that the spinner fate was very much like the nest building with twigs and grass creating the thread that was to become the tapestry of life.
Fate no 2
The Measurer
The second fate, the one that measures the life thread became birds on a wire. I noticed that when birds gather and perch on a wire they space themselves equal distance apart. Even when the gap is more than one bird they will leave the same amount of space for the missing birds. The result is that birds are excellent at measuring distances, particularly distances related to life.
Fate no 3
At the End of Your Rope
