ghost bird wearing a neck warmer, a naturally felted gift from owl
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| bowl full of the dried left over felted remains of owl, there are feathers in there, tiny bits of bone, leaves and who knows |
up close you can see skeletal leaves and feathers and bones all felted together in the bucket this past year; the felted cluster looks like a bird here with a long narrow beak:
on the bottom left here you can see two red spiders and a larva possibly from the crane fly/langpootmug? although they don't have the long tail. I haven't been able to find pics of larvae or grubs with these long tails, so I don't really know what they are. If it has been in the bucket full of water this past year, it'll probably need water; so I pour some of the dye water and a couple of mushy leaves into this biscuit container and place the larva on a leaf and let it decide whether it wants to dive into the water or not and whilst I was observing number one, the cluster moved and there was larva number two, an even bigger one and I let that one slide onto a wet leaf as well and they both slid in and under water! later on two more appeared I have let them join the others in the mini swimming pool; I've no idea what I'm saving here
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| another insect, a black ladybird with yellow spot |
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| bird |
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| the collection |
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| warrior |
another beast: this piece started life as a house and transformed itself into a cat; cats have been creeping into my work lately; why I wonder? I've been doing some 'research' on the symbolism of the cat; they come to us when they feel like it, joining us on their terms, so independence could be a message here; they could represent domesticity, freedom and cruelty (because of their hunting instincts, which strikes me as odd, for we all must hunt/kill in order to survive); I think the cat here, as she was conceived as a house, most likely belongs to a friendly tribe, the positive kind that warns us of rain as they are sensitive to water, and guess what: after weeks of cold and no rain, today the temperature has risen and it has been raining slightly all day!
Comments
like this is such a gift. never
to be at a loss for kinds of
Beauty to marvel at...
i wish i was There, to lean close
and study in Person...
There is half of a dead squirrel in our front yard. These things always move me, compel me, startle the self into the moment... but this time I also found myself thinking of you....
Dee: no it doesn't stink at all!! the other day when I was cleaning out the bucket containing Owl, the stench was awful, once everything had dried out it was and is very much okay; I've just gone to check and smell again: I can describe it as being close to when you stroke your dog or in Grace's case your goat, and you smell them and then your hand and there is a definite 'animal scent' and when it's one-of-your-own you rather like this smell; I associate it with a warm day with slight rain and you notice all kinds of woody smells and mown grass, it has a gentleness to it.
Of course this happens after the fleshy parts have dissolved/been eaten away.
The larvae btw are gross, but fascinating as well, like slugs.
(I have become fascinated by slugs these past wet summers -I know it DOES sound weird- but will definitely try filming them, they get up to all sorts!)