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| The Bird Project |
It was during that event in American history appallingly named “Shock and Awe” that I was overtaken with a feeling of helplessness. I decided to begin a big project, one which would involve my every waking moment and if I was lucky, some of my sleeping moments as well.
Over the span of my career in glass, I have been designing pieces with birds. Thousands of my birds are flying all over the world in places I will never see. I have familiarized myself with and drawn so many different kinds of birds that I decided they would be my swiftest vehicle.
So I planned a trip inward. And what would a road trip be without a few friends?
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I had a theory that when the name of a particular species is said, it creates an emotion or an image in the mind of the listener. And I wanted my birds to evoke some emotion so I decided to do a survey to find out what people thought and felt when they heard these names; falcon, swan, owl, crane, and raven.
I sent surveys to about thirty people. I asked family members, friends, clients, my doctor and dentist and a few people who were involved in nature preservation.
Most people responded. I decided to use their written efforts for inspiration when I created large freestanding sculptures which involved each species. Of course when I say “I” what I mean is “we” since little can be accomplished without the assistance of Bob and Heather.
I commenced with the owl. My friend Roxanne had written that the owl was All Seeing But Not Seen. I envisioned an owl flying high over the mountains alone in the cold blue darkness. As we worked on this first one, I realized that the act of making the birds life sized removed them immediately from our usual body of work. |
Next I worked on the crane. We traveled to the International Crane Foudation. It was there that I first laid eyes on a whooper, which has wings that are so white as to be coveted by angels.
I learned that cranes were revered in many cultures. I was particularly fond of the Vietnamese story, which told of cranes carrying souls into the afterworld.
Since my plan was to include both etching and stained glass, I decided to create a mandala of colored glass as a backdrop. I love to play with the traditional “rose window” form as seen in so many churches. But mine included frogs and dragonflies rather than saints and thus I felt it espoused a certain reverence for nature.
It was while working on the crane that my friend Marvin Hill died. I dedicated this piece to him. And this is the poem I wrote to go with it.” Carry the soul of our Beloved into the heavens and return to sing with us in the sunlight”. My friend Shanti knew of a Japanese calligrapher named Fuji Moses. She interpreted this for me and it was to be etched on the glass next to the crane. But the first time we showed the piece, before we could add the inscription, we sold it. We have since created a second version. Both are shown here. |
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The third bird is a falcon. In the survey which he returned, my friend, Nels reminded me of the Egyptian god, Horus, the hawk headed son of Isis and Osiris. And it was then that I realized I could indulge in my love for the ancient Egyptian culture. I have been privileged to see several expositions of these artifacts and I was always left with a feeling of “shock and awe”. I feel a strong connection with the craftsmen and scribes of the time of Tut. Once again I wrote a poem and set out to have it interpreted, this time into hieroglyphics. I used the Internet to find someone equal to this task and I found Jim Loy, whom I think of as “The Egyptian Magician”.
This time the process was more arduous. I had great difficulty understanding his instructions and it took many emails as he patiently explained what each symbol was to be. When I was finished, I proudly shipped my efforts off to my teacher and he had to tell me that, like a student with dyslexia, I had turned half of them backwards. And since I AM a student with dyslexia it took a huge effort to understand and finish the hieroglyphic section. But both Jim and I persevered.
This is what it says, “Oh mighty Horus, protect my sons. Let them live long and prosper. Let them be builders, not destroyers. Let their enemies be few and their friends many. May their ideas take wing. Let them soar like Horus himself”
I decided that I would add a backing piece of dark blue which has lines of gold the same width as the lines between the glyphs etched into the piece of glass in front of them. Thus when the viewer moves a bit to the right or left, he sees a glint of gold as if he were an archeologist seeing the first golden glints of those marvelous treasures he has unearthed.
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The last two subjects have life only inside my head and I hope to bring them to physical life in the near future.
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MEK
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| Bird Project photos by Larry Sanders and Jim Middleton |
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