Awareness

Gull Flight . great blue turaco tail feathers . 30 “ x 24” . for a commission

Awareness depends on what we focus on, right? Well, duh.

When I read the book "Salt: a World History" by Mark Kurlansky, the whole of human history seemed to revolve around our use of salt. When I read a book by E.O. Wilson, all land-based life appears to have something to do with ants. When I get a new car, I notice how many cars are the same make and model as mine.

Since my artistic focus is solely about birds and uses only feathers, that might say something about my sanity. My world can sort of revolve around feathers. But an advantage of this specialization is that flight and hope and other metaphors associated with feathers are a big part of my life. Maybe that is why I feel so joyful and light most of the time.

Abstraction

Swiftsure . great argus pheasant secondary wing feathers, naturally shed, one from each wing

A bird interprets what it sees through its visual process—light to eyes to brain. This interpretation is sort of an abstraction, an inference. The thing thought to be seen is not the thing, it is just light waves reflected off a surface that has to be interpreted in order to make sense of it.

Humans carry this interpretation process to the nth degree through language. We base our conscious thoughts on our abstraction process of language. We don’t often experience life directly but through our thoughts which are shaped by our language like the words on this page. For instance, the word for feather is not the feather but is a concept that we codify into language so we can communicate the idea of “feather” to each other. The word is static while an actual feather is not. So when we see a feather, we are likely not fully seeing it but rather thinking of it as the word that we learned for what a feather should be. The actual feather is much more grand.

Art can get past our limited language-based concepts. For this reason, I am pleased that I have chosen feathers as my medium. By using an actual feather, I remove a layer of abstraction which would exist if I represented the feather with a drawing or sculpture. Then by carving the feather, the result does not quite fit into the word or concept we have of what a feather should be and in that moment, there is an opening to see them differently, with new eyes and maybe with wonder.

A Bird's Home

Feathers are a birds home. They keep a bird warm, dry, and protected from the sun. If we had feathers, our world would look very different. We too would be warm, dry, and modest so we would not need any clothes. We would not need houses. And if the feathers helped us fly, we wouldn’t need roads to get from here to there.

Taking a Break

Taking a Break . 5 x 7 inches . ringtail duck secondary (speculum) wing feathers

This September was for me, a time of art shows and travel. So I took a short break from my studio and making of art. Sort of like this drake and hen duck watching their offspring, I took a break to watch my art interact with the world.

What is the Most Beautiful Feather?

Argus Pheasant English Alphabet made from patterns in their feathers. 24 x 18 inches . $15 which includes shipping within USA, $20 for outside the USA. Email the payment to info@featherfolio through PayPal .

It’s the patterns on the feathers that make this peacock-sized bird so awesome.   How can a bird that grows only black, white and brown feathers be so attractive?  For me, it’s because the patterns vary so much.  The bird sports eyes on some of its wing feathers that look exactly like the eye spots on some moths.  And there are not only one or two eyes on each feather but 10 or more!  At 30 inches long, these impress me as the most wondrous feathers on earth.  

I still have a number of these argus alphabet posters. They were printed a few years ago and I have been so busy with original art that these were not marketed much or distributed. If you would like one or some (or wholesale orders) email us at info@featherfolio.com. Retail is $10 each plus shipping.

The Poster: 24 x 18 inches, $10 each, $5 shipping for up to 7 (within the USA call for shipping prices outside the USA). Shipped rolled in a thick tube.

Ground and Sky, part two.

Underneath and Above . shed rattlesnake skins and mute swan feathers . 12 x 18 inches

Ground and Sky

Ground and Sky study 1 . shed rattlesnake skin and mute swan feather . 5 x 7 inches

I am still struggling to find ways to incorporate flattened, shed snakeskins into my work.

I’ve always been drawn to feathers because they represent one of my basic desires: to fly; to move about freely in the air with no restraints. Now i am confused because I also feel a strong pull toward these shed snakeskins which, if anything, represent the opposite of feathers. So I find myself this summer lying on the ground, feeling the pull of gravity and the closeness of the plants and soil. Although I am unable easily slither and move about anywhere near the grace of a snake.

In partial recognition of this concurrent pull to the earth and to the skies, these opposing but complimentary forces, I tried out using both themes in several small studies. Here is one. What do you think?

This is only 5 x 7 inches because that is the widest that the largest width of the rattlesnake skin I have. I would like to find some larger snakeskin sheds. Do you know of anyone with a 20 foot python?

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.