Combining Shed Snakeskins and Shed Feathers

Pay Attention . 15” x 12” . flattened, shed snakeskin and two female red-tail black cockatoo tail feathers

My mind is still turning. How can I combine naturally shed snake skins and feathers into a unified design that incorporates something of a relationship that these reptiles may have to birds and vice versa. Here is one idea.

A shed feather is sort of the equivalent to a snake shedding a single scale. Yet the snake sheds its entire skin at once which includes all of its scales. It sheds it skin kind of like when we take off a tight piece of clothing like a t-shirt. We turn it inside out when we pull it off. If a bird were to shed like this, all of its feathers would come off with its skin inside-out and we would find these lying around as entire shed bird skins on the outside with the feathers all on the inside. For some of us, they would be quite the treasures.

Natural Creations: Shed Snake Skins

Like a feather, a snake’s skin is made of keratin, the strongest of animal materials. And like feathers, snake skins are shed periodically. A snake sheds its skin and scales while a bird just sheds its feathers and gets to keep its skin.

 Because of their physical similarities to feathers, you might understand my fascination with snake skin sheds. Flattening a shed skin with a hot steam iron, it is as thin as tissue paper and has all the scales and patterns that were once on the snake.

Natural Creations: Wasp Paper

Polistes wasp, wood fiber, and red construction paper

Someone who saw my art at a museum exhibit told me that it reminded them of an artist in Australia who they know, Shona Wilson. She leads workshops, gently guiding people into the forest, field, or garden to make ephemeral creations out of found natural objects. You can watch a video of her thoughts and process on her website.

I am always arranging what I find on the beach or in the woods into something or other. It is a soothing, focused meditation: intense concentration, appreciation, and awareness and also a retreat from the busy world.

Is this in any way akin to what a bird feels like making a nest or a wasp making its? This wasp was doing its thing with human-made materials: red construction paper that I provided.

Fading Away

Goodbye 4, turkey and swan feathers, 15 x 12 inches

A feather is a symbol of hope, which is an underlying theme of my art. However, I find myself facing a dilemma. Worldwide, we talk about reversing our ongoing dismantling of the earth's complex natural environments, but it is not happening; we keep at the same destructive activities at an increasing rate. Species extinctions, human population, and temperatures keep rising. So how can I express something that appears beyond hope using feathers, a symbol of hope? 

One idea I have about loss of hope is that it is akin to the grieving process. Like the loss of someone I cherish or the sadness of knowing my own life will end. Soon though, as I have found with my own grief, comes a feeling of awe at the beauty of creation. It overwhelms the sadness. I find myself continuously grateful for the gifts our world gives us. It makes me want to give back.

I would love to hear about your thoughts on this subject of hope/hopelessness or anything else in this newsletter.

This appeared in my June 2019 Newsletter. Sign up here for my quarterly newsletter. It has what I have been thinking about and upcoming shows and events.

Mythic Birds

Phoenix 3 . female red-tail black cockatoo tail feather, naturally shed from a captive bird

I discovered a treasure list when I searched Wikepedia for “mythic birds”. This was for further research into an idea of feather totems, a series I am designing. The series began with sketches of long feathers carved into totem pole-type of arrangements using silhouettes of different kinds of large birds standing on each other, like eagles and herons and turkeys. Then I thought of arranging birds in their currently understood evolutionary order with ducks on the bottom. From that I thought, why not put the bones of an archaeopteryx on the bottom and go up from there? And from there, I got more fanciful and asked myself, how about a phoenix? Where does that fit into an evolutionary order? What other mythic birds are there? That’s when I looked to Wikepedia.

Binoculars

male & female red-tail black cockatoo tail feathers

I watched the first acorn woodpeckers I had ever seen a few miles up a mountain trail. Exciting! Down at the trail-head were a number of serious birders with binoculars, cameras, and spotting scopes looking for a rare bird in the area. When I mentioned to a couple of them that I saw acorn woodpeckers, they essentially said, “Ho-hum.”

Familiarity often seems to diminish wonder. Why?

I only have a partial and situational answer and it has to do with my view of life: the creatures I notice around me are beings, not things. I am curious about their experiences as beings equal in stature to me, but very different. For example, when I accidentally dropped a tiny piece of chocolate in the kitchen. I noticed tiny ants nearby. Instead of reacting to the ants by trying to get rid of them, I carefully and for a long time observed them roaming around to see what they would do with the chocolate. This sort of thing keeps me curious and translates into my art, because I consider myself successful when my art takes the ho-hum factor away. So I ask you. What keeps your world fresh?

Red-winged Blackbird Relations

Blackbird Melodies . 36 x 60 inches

The male Red-winged blackbirds hang out during the fall and winter in large same-sex flocks as do the females when they aren’t mating and raising young. Then, during the breeding season, the males set on cattails calling and flying around, each in a small area with females in nests within the cattails nearby.

These are much studied birds, especially their social behavior. Much of the literature states as fact that the males are defending their territories against other males. The thing is, a huge percentage of the eggs in each nest are fertile from more than one male.

Since the blackbird males flock must be a close tribes during the non-breeding season, they must develop relations with each other bird in the flock. Perhaps they are sort of friends rather than how we often define animals as always in competition. Maybe it is more of a sharing system than we are able to realize, coming from our society’s identification with competition, male dominance, and monogamy as the dominant relationship patterns.

A Key to Creativity

Bird and Leaf, two turkey feathers

At a recent art show opening, many people commented saying, “How do you come up with so many creative ideas? Actually, it is fairly simple.

Of course, I get my inspiration from many sources but I have another way.

This has to do with having limits. The feathers as my medium set severe limits. When I am inspired, I have to figure out how to accomplish my idea using only feathers as my line, form, color and size. So I need to approach this type of design problem from many angles. I sketch many possible ideas knowing most of them will not work. It is kind of like a brain storm in my sketchbook

Guide to Feather Cleaning and Care

grey peacock wing covert feathers

Feathers are made out of the same stuff as fingernails which is a protein-like substance called Keratin. It is the toughest of animal materials. However, pests and mold and sun can still destroy feathers. But as long as you take these simple steps, your feathers should last forever, barring a chew-happy puppy or some other accident.

1. Freeze. When you first get your feathers, keep them isolated from any other plumes. Put them directly into a freezer that is set at zero degrees Farenheight or -18 Celsius (colder is even better). Leave them in for at least 48 hours. Take them out for a day and then put them back in for another 48 hours. This will kill bugs.

Instead, you could soak the feathers for a half-hour in a mixture of half isopropyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, but I find freezing is easier.

2. Clean. Wash with a mild soap like dish soap. Gently rub off any dirt by moving your fingers from the base toward the tip of the feather, like petting a cat, who likes its fur rubbed the right way. Rinse with clean water. Air dry or dry with a hair drier. If the feather is misshapen but intact, you can try putting the feather in the steam of a tea kettle and gently preening it back into perfect shape. Youtube will have a few videos about this steaming method.

3. Store. One cleaned, keeping the feathers dry and sealed is the best protection against future problems like mold and insects. I usually seal my feathers in plastic bags. That is about it.

If you ever notice tiny holes or loose fluff about your feathers, isolate those from others and go through the freezing process again. An extra precaution that you may choose, but it involves chemicals, is to place a smal dusting of flea powder in your container. This is the same stuff that is sometimes put on dogs and cats (active ingredient is Carbaryl) . This will kill mites and beetles. Sometimes feathers are stored with moth balls (naptha or paradichlorobenzene) to repel bugs but this is smelly and more toxic. People used to store feathers (and woolens) in cedar chests because the wood oils can repel insects. I don’t have a cedar chest but if I did, it wouldn’t hurt to store them this way although I would still keep the feathers sealed.

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Show - a very quick tour

Desert Museum show March through June

A quick video tour of the show. I am living for a month as the artist in residence, in the middle of Suguaro National Park. Morning hikes and talking to the plant, bird, and animal biologists pushes me to learn a lot about the desert in a short time. Yesterday’s education was about how spiny most of the plants are. I have little red pricks all up and down my legs after a close encounter with what is not aptly-named the Teddy Bear cholla cactus.

Shipping and other work not creating art

Being an artist is not all about pursuing pure creative ideas. For instance, each finished piece has to be transported from one place to another. It’s a lot of work and a fair expense. A bay in my barn is full of empty cardboard boxes that my frames come in, special, studio-built art shipping boxes, and commercial art shipping boxes. It is kind of a mess in need of cleaning and organization because I haven’t gotten to it as I am usually making art. Fortunately, my assistant Grant is up to the task.

What Is Real?

unusual winter cloud

I usually work in my studio after breakfast. The sun is finally shining so today I put down my tools and step outside.  Watching and listening to the birds, touching and smelling the recently wet earth, I think, what if my creations and busyness are nothing and this is everything.   

Circles

Rooster Tunes . turkey feather and small feathers from a sun conure

I am not sure why I am continuing with a fascination for birds enclosed in circles.

Maybe I empathize with caged creatures like the rooster that crows every morning, vital with life. Or, perhaps a bird enclosed in a circle reminds me of how I am surrounded, limited but protected by the environment around me. Or it may be that I see circles as pleasing forms, complete.

Revisions

Heron Dance . mostly made in 2018 . completed in 2019

I hear from writers that they often find it helpful to let their writing sit for an hour, a day, or more. When they come back, they hope to see it afresh. Often they quickly realize what needs improvement and how to fix it. I do the same with this blog.

I also do it with my art. I struggled toward placing the 15 cutout cranes in this piece but was not satisfied. After three days I tried again. A few days later after a third try I was pleased.

The process is pleasing also. Sort of a discipline. I have to let go getting immediate results, delaying my gratification over completing each piece. The result is always better.

Tinder

Phoenix . female red-tail black cockatoo tail feather

You can use a bunch of dry fluffy feathers as a fire starter. This worked almost as well as paper in my wood stove on a cold January morning.

For most people, paper is easy to come by. But for me and say, a chicken farmer, feathers are a ready source. One caution: a lot of down feathers floating around as you light a fire could cause something like a slow explosion. I usually use paper.

Feather Color from Melanin

Sunbittern wing feather, about 6” long

The many colors in this feather are created from the protein-like substance melanin; the same chemical that colors human skin. Many families of birds, like ducks and pheasants create feather color using melanin. Their bodies do not have the ability to create the bright yellows and reds in the feathers that you see in parrots and some songbirds.

Feather color is a complex subject so the previous paragraph is a simplification partly to fit this blog and partly because I don’t know the full story. If you have additional or contradictory information and sources about these feather colors, I will add it to the blog.

Bird Dreams

Heron Dreams against a 2:30-in-the-afternoon sky, December 20

This time of year, the light fades as dark takes over in my northern quarter of the world. This piece has taken on a fantasy feel as I am less active outside now, dreaming of birds and imagining what the birds may be dreaming.

Thought Notes

Thought notes and result, Bushtit Nest Feather

I keep a composition book close to me. In it I scribble images of ideas for potential future pieces. The scribbles are kind of like a shopping list kept on the refrigerator to add to as the needs arise. They remind me of what I was thinking. It is all I need see in order to move forward with a piece.

Busy bushtits flock near my house with a tendency to occasionally squeeze together for a few seconds on a branch like fluffy ping-pong balls. Then they disperse, looking for tiny foods. These birds also squeeze together into hanging nests to hatch eggs and raise the babies until they are ready to fly.  

What the Bird Sees

Pluck . turkey tail feathers . 20” x 12”

When my friend first showed me his drone pictures from 150 feet above my house and fields , I marveled at the fresh perspective. From that, I have a better basis for imagining what a bird sees as it flies over the water looking for fish. For this image, I still had to use my imagination and stylize my mind’s image to fit in these two feathers.

Respecting Feathers

Kate MccGwire Patrick Scott

I want to respect the essence of each individual feather form in my art. That means I don’t trim the feathers or flatten them to a background. All my work is with single feathers, usually divorced from a feather’s overlapping arrangements on the bird.

 Two prominent artist do trim their feathers but seem to visually respect their overlapping aspect. One person is Patrick Scott (Navaho) whose fans can visually honor the overlapping tail arrangement of the birds whose feathers he uses.

 Another artist is Kate McGwire (from the UK) whose overlapping abstract feather sculptures still can be reminiscent of the nature of way feathers cover birds’ bodies.