Made a Raven for my Auntie

Who knew?

This is standard maintenance; failure to comply may void your warranty.

The How of Birdsong

Saradwyn Does Dali

To Be Carried All Unwilling Into A Nameless Future

 ...by way of Edward Bullmore, googleworthy NZ Artist, who also liked using amorphous human figures.

Dali has always been one of my favorites, and not just for the moustache.  He imported many of his paintings from the faraway land of Hypnagogia, summoning dreams into wakefulness with the chime of a falling spoon.
He was utterly and unapologetically absurd and made a living at it. Quite a talent in itself.

Those are definitely my feet, solid and earthen, though my toes are less mandragorean.
Those are my toothbrush-splatter stars, which find their way into damnear everything lately.
Those are my snapping pennants, because the future is a grand place.

"It may be that when we no longer know what to do,

we have come to our real work

and when we no longer know which way to go,

we have begun our real journey."

Wendell Berry

...which I found at another favorite blog, Donna Watson's Layers

My Dad saw an Owl

can you see him?

how 'bout now

O God he ate my soul....O.o

Know thyself

nothing to excess

The morepork is native to New Zealand. No word yet if it's actually pork flavored.

The morepork's call is, in Maori legend, an omen of death.
A useful tidbit to store away in my Cabinet of Oracular Wisdom

(so far I've only made the doors)





everything's been coming up owls lately.

My new friend Red Hawk told me about the Stigini ,
big scary Owl shapeshifters

and then I found This

it looks rather owlish if you squint

The Vanities (nekkidness warning)

A theme from last year's experiences: false friends.
The Crows are kinder; if they pick one's eyes out, we may be shocked, we may be disgusted, but we are not surprised. They are exactly as they should be, they behave as expected, without apology.

A cautionary tale - take notice of the people and situations around you. Trust your instincts. Don't die on the wrong road, lost, but within sight of your own Castle.

If I were doing art for a Tarot deck, this would be the Hanged Man.

anyone who thinks it'd be a good Tarot deck is invited to share how that can be accomplished...

Sad Story

A guy I know from school posted on his Facebook page a little tribute to a life ended too soon. Apparently he was at a restaurant and bird flew in. The staff chased it and shooed it and just as it was about to fly free, some horrid person smashed the poor thing with a food tray. He was moved enough to be sad about it on the internet & to value its tiny life.

An Ornithological Mystery

Who pooed this poo?

Was it an eagle, an owl, a green winged teal?

A linnet, a limpet, a hoopoe, a bat? (Bats=Birds?)

An Ibis, an egret, an egress?

(I know nothing of birds*)

Whatever it was, it was massive.

A moa? A roc? A Pteranodon?

(Dinosaurs=Birds, I have this on good authority)

I'd like to issue a rebuttal of this scathing critique of my architectural prowess, But I've no clue whether to direct my outrage to a Stork or a Sparrow or a Starling.

Any information will be rewarded with slice of Lemon Meringue Pie

(if there's still any left)

I made it last night and had a slice before bed. During the night I think pixies got into it; they helped themselves to another slice. Apparently they liked it, as it is now bedizened with fairy jewels, cabochons of amber and topaz and scintillating citrines. (i know a lot about Shiny Things)

*this rambling is dedicated to the prose of Mr Frank Key, more of which can be heard here

**UPDATE** there's no more pie. Sorry.

Teh comment thingy is not working

it won't let me comment on my own blog. LAME

Anyway, RE: the Harpy...

Hi Orlando! thanks for the links. i love Waterhouse so freakin much. Hadn't seen that particular work before.
Much of my recent birdly art is based on these fabulous creatures:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vasnetsov_Sirin_Alkonost.jpg

Sirin being a form of Siren, and Alkonost (halcyon) the bird who rests on the Ocean's smooth surface - twin birds of Sorrow and Joy

The Birds

by Aristophanes, a play 414 BC. This is the chorus of the Nightingale and other birds.

 

Hear us, you who are no more than leaves always falling, you mortals benighted by nature,

You enfeebled and powerless creatures of earth always haunting a world of mere shadows,

Entities without wings, insubstantial as dreams, you ephemeral things, you human beings:

Turn your minds to our words, our etherial words, for the words of the birds last forever!

In the play, humans and birds agree to build a city in the sky to improve conditions for both: the humans will acquire flight and the birds will no longer be hunted, and by combining their strength, they will conquer the Gods dwelling on Mt Olympus and gain their Sovereignty. The birds' King is the Hoopoe and he looks like this:

His Latin name is Upupa epops which makes me giggle a bit.