This painting was originally painted as a book cover for Imaginary Worlds Press. The manuscript then was purchased by prime books, and appears as the frontis in this new edition. The book is a horror novel, and we wanted to do something 'chilly' for the cover that featured a crow or raven, and some little icons from the book. The story has many references to nursery rhymes that we all know, featuring predominantly The House that Jack Built, so in the corners we have a wee little cat, and a rat, and a cauldron and pie. All these have significance to the story. Mainly I wanted to do a very wintery feeling painting, and then the idea for the raven on his branch, berries and a few drops of blood about, and the knotwork branches around him in the border came to me. It was perfect!