FEATHERS

Three Feathers by Wen Redmond. Sewn watercolor and masa papers, acrylics, collaged digital images, monoprinting, inks. See Wen's website here.

Whenever I find a feather I'm taken back in time to my first year of school. We had a large, low, square table in the front of the classroom which was the designated Nature Table. I loved the nature table! It made Monday mornings very exciting because there were always new gatherings after the weekend. Sea shells, porcupine quills, snake skins, birds nests, wasps nests and an abundance of feathers from many different birds ..... most of which were provided by me. The large quill feathers were arranged in an open calabash (gourd). Even now, umpteen years later this calabash flashes through my mind whenever I find a feather.

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Silence Spoken by Lewis Knauss

This piece is by Novie Trump. See Novie's Flickr photo stream here and blog here.

Paper Cuts by Lucy Player. See Lucy's Flickr photo stream here.

the lightness

sweeps through the feathers

lifting my spirits

-Neva Gagliano

Turkey Feathers by Amber Alexander. See Blog here and Etsy shop here.

Jude Hill's beautiful Feathers. See blog post here.

Far by Feather by Louise Richardson. See more here.

Nest IV. Mixed Media: distressed twine, wire mesh, twigs and feathers by Natasha Duwin. Website here.

Library of Babel by Brody Neuenschwander. Website here.

Feather. Metal wall sculpture by Mark Goodier

Starlings in Winter

by Mary Oliver

Chunky and noisy,
but with stars in their black feathers,
they spring from the telephone wire
and instantly

they are acrobats
in the freezing wind.
And now, in the theater of air,
they swing over buildings,

dipping and rising;
they float like one stippled star
that opens,
becomes for a moment fragmented,

then closes again;
and you watch
and you try
but you simply can’t imagine

how they do it
with no articulated instruction, no pause,
only the silent confirmation
that they are this notable thing,

this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin
over and over again,
full of gorgeous life.
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,

even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it;

I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard, I want

to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.

Wing and stone for Morgan. Watercolor by Tim O'Kane. Website here.

Uccelli by Tim O'Kane. Website here.

NOOKS AND CRANNIES

Untitled (detail ) , fabric, wood, rust, 132 x 288 x 8 inches by Leonardo Drew

Discovering the imposing work of Leonardo Drew was a turning point for me. I couldn't believe what I was seeing .....

Huge wall mounted tableaux of stacked boxes, nooks and crannies stuffed with found objects ...... rusted debris, papers, fabric, discarded wood and domestic and industrial trash.


Installation by Leonardo Drew

In a way Leonardo Drew gave me permission to continue collecting junk. Afterall, collecting and making art can go hand in hand. I had already started creating my niche carvings but I was finicky about the objects I chose to put in them..... and paying through the snout for these objects too, I might add. Since discovering Leonardo's work the more junkier junk is creeping into my art and I do like it!


Detail of one of my niche carvings.

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." - Thomas Edison


Assemblages by Romanowski

Swiss-born artist, Romanowski certainly knows how to fill his assemblage boxes with prime found objects. I imagine he spends many a blissful hour hunting the streets of San Francisco or there abouts. His work can be seen at Fabric8 Gallery, San Francisco. Click here and scroll to the bottom to see the rest of Roman's work on this exhibition. 


Turntable, assemblage by Romanowski

There are a few more nooks and crannies to explore at Musing Relics where Lynne Parks features her work......


Assemblage by Lynne Parks


"I am drawn to the discarded, forgotten, and obsolete which are by no means inert. I collect fragments found in the marginal spaces of alleys and abandoned buildings, trash heaps and flea market bins."


"As a child, I explored the unfamiliar and forgotten objects cluttered in my parents' drawers. Many afternoon hours were spent guessing at their practical usage, often as not imagining unlikely ones and imbuing them with life. The fountain pen nibs, defunct cigarette lighters, sewing machine parts and broken jewelry were my "plastic animals." My father's horological tools were especially evocative, later I was entranced with his beautiful landscape designs. My brother Bob and I read mythology together and I appropriated the notion of composite beasts." - Lynne Parks


I love Lynnes statement. It reminds me of my own childhood when squirreling found objects took up most of my day. The assemblage (below) by Kecia looks much like the boxes of treasures I kept in my "museum".....hoping that one day Gerald Durrell would stop by and be very impressed.

Typesetting Nature Box by Kecia Frazer Deveney at Lemoncholy

"We are left with objects that have a hollowness that we can fill with our own wonder and fantasy." - Thomas Moore

Shadow Box, lithograph by Clayton Thiel

Last but not least, little nooks with handmade treasures within.


White Pebble, (Ceramic) by Novie Trump

The Waiting by Novie Trump.