Put a Bird on It! (part 1)

I recently read a comment (or was it a "tweet"?!) about the supposed "over-use" of bird images in art right now.  I, for one, beg to differ- and so do Portlandia's Lisa and Bryce:                              



Ha!  I love that!

Birds have been a favorite subject and symbol portrayed in art since the beginning of... well... art.  In fact, what may well be the earliest rock pictograph ever incorporates a bird image.

According to archaeologist Robert Gunn, "...a rock painting that appears to be of a bird that went extinct about 40,000 years ago has been discovered in northern Australia. If confirmed, this would be the oldest rock art anywhere in the world..." (Robert Gunn, 40,000 Year Old Rock Art Site Depicts Extinct Bird, News Junkie Post.) 

one of many identical stenciled birds at Djulirri Rock Shelter

Another prehistoric artist apparently took a page from Lisa and Bryce's book, using a stencil to "put a bird on it" all over the Djulirri Rock Shelter in northern Australia.  (Prehistoric Rock Art Reveals Creator's Bird Obsession, Beta News, 2012.)

A stork or heron-like bird called the benu, an Egyptian bird thought to be the origin of the mythological  phoenix.

Why have birds so captured our imaginations?  Not so long ago, if you think about it, humans must have believed them to be magical beings, perhaps related to gods or spirits. No one could have comprehended their amazing and mysterious gift of flight; even a rudimentary knowledge of the underlying physics didn't exist until the 1600's. Their melodious songs and beautiful, sometimes brightly colored feathers would have only reinforced this perception.

In Hindu mythology, a half-bird half-human creature called Garuda carries Vishnu and his wife on his back.


Birds have always played an important part in the symbolism, myths, and folktales of many cultures. "Rising above the earth and soaring through the skies, birds have been symbols of power and freedom throughout the ages. In many myths and legends, birds link the human world to the divine or supernatural realms that lie beyond ordinary experience."  For more information about the role of birds in mythology, go here. 

Roman wall painting, about AD 70

John Burroughs (1837-1921) wrote, "The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life... The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds -- how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday-lives -- and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!"

Ivory-billed Woodpecker by John James Audubon

When you think of art and birds, one of the first names to pop into your head might well be that of John James Audubon (1785-1851), a famous self-taught scientist and artist who spent 18 years of his life in an attempt to paint and describe all the birds of America, and discovering many unknown species along the way.  The result was "The Birds of America", a collection of 435 prints of his naturalistic and extremely detailed life-sized paintings.

White Gyrfalcons by John James Audubon

I feel I would be remiss if I didn't mention Charles Darwin, particulary because of his use of bird drawings to illustrate and support his theory of natural selection.  Darwin noted that the beaks of several species of finches living on the Galapogos Islands varied from island to island, but correlated to the type of food available to them on each island.

Darwin's drawing of the beak shapes of some finch species on the Galapogos Islands.

There are so many ways in which artists have 'put a bird on it' that I never grow tired of looking at them.  I'm completely amazed and intrigued by the limitless variety of methods, media, and styles that have been used to portray birds.  Here are a few examples:

 

Inuit artist Mayoreak Ashoona, Tuulirjuaq (Great Big Loon), stencil and stone cut

Ancient ibis painting copied by Howard Carter (discoverer of King Tut's tomb) from a tomb in Egypt.

Swiss artist Elfi Cella often includes birds in her brilliant mixed media paintings. If you're not familiar with her work, click on her name to check it out.

This untitled piece by Lynne Hoppe never fails to touch me... something about the mixture of emotions it evokes, which I can 't quite put into words...

One of my favorite pieces by one of my favorite collage artists, Dick Allowatt- Navigator.

The Ornithologist, 2008, acrylic with mixed media by Donna Iona Drozda

Diving Bird by Erika Giovanna Klien, 1939

Nova by Megan Schliebs

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you may have noticed that I have quite a propensity to put birds on things, myself...

Palimpsest: Language (detail)

Before There Was Anything, Heron and Crow Were There...

Don't worry, I haven't run out of birds yet... Stay tuned for the second installment of "Put a Bird on It"!

Raven and Crane- part 2

As Raven spread his inky wings to fly, darkness spilled out from beneath them, filling the emptiness with all the pieces of the mysterious Night.  The beautiful Moon sailed through the sky, and the darkness was dotted with countless swirling stars.  The Moon's glowing face spun slowly out of hiding until her full roundness was revealed, and then back again.

See part 1 here.

- This story is my own, and does not intentionally draw from any existing story or myth. The style and inspiration come from the traditional creation myths of many cultures, including Celtic and Native American.

Archetype: The Raven

Traveling around the blogosphere the other day, I came upon a lovely piece by Patrice Lynne Young, featuring one of my favorite figures- a raven.  I've had a fascination with ravens/crows for many years, and I've noticed that this is something I seem to share with a fairly large number of other artists.  In fact, when I started looking, I was surprised by the number of raven/crow images I had done.  What is it about this common bird, I wondered, that captures our imaginations to such a degree that you might even call it an iconic figure?  I had some idea, but decided to investigate further, and to share with you a small part of the information I found.

The Crystallization of Winter in My Heart by Sharmon Davidson

"Ravens are common characters in the traditional narratives and mythologies of cultures around the world," according to Wikipedia, and are "often depicted as a trickster or culture hero figure."  Carl Jung discussed the Trickster as one of the primary archetypes of the collective unconscious, an ancient and eternal cross-cultural symbol through which we humans interpret our experiences.  Examples of other archetypes include the Shadow, the Savior Child, Anima/Animus (the soul), the Wise Old Man, the Magician, the Divine Couple (Syzygy), the Hero, and the Great Mother. Archetypes occur within the traditions of every culture, though each archetype takes different forms in each culture. While familiar with the concept, I don't think I explain it very well, so for a more complete explanation of Jung's Archetypes, go here.

There are many trickster figures besides the Raven, such as the Coyote in native American myths, and Eshu in the Yoruba tradition,  among many others.  Some characteristics of the Trickster are as follows: "The trickster deity breaks the rules of the gods of nature, sometimes maliciously, but usually, albeit unintentionally, with positive effects.  Often, the rule-breaking takes the form of tricks or thievery... Frequently, the Trickster exhibits gender and form variability." (Wikipedia)

To illustrate, I thought you might enjoy one of my favorite Raven stories.  Someone paraphrased it into the following form, but since there is no further information on the page, I don't know who to thank.

Raven Steals the Sun

       According to a Haida story, in the beginning the world was in total darkness. 

      The Raven, who had existed from the beginning of time, was tired of groping about and bumping into things in the dark.  

      Eventually the Raven came upon the home of an old man who lived alone with his daughter. Through his slyness, the Raven learned that the old man had a great treasure. This was all the light in the universe, contained in a tiny box concealed within many boxes. 

      At once the Raven vowed to steal the light. 

      He thought and thought, and finally came up with a plan. He waited until the old man's daughter came to the river to gather water. Then the Raven changed himself into a single hemlock needle and dropped himself into the river, just as the girl was dipping her water-basket into the river.  

Earth, Sea, and Sky by Sharmon Davidson 

      As she drank from the basket, she swallowed the needle. It slipped and slithered down into her warm belly, where the Raven transformed himself again, this time into a tiny human. After sleeping and growing there for a very long time, at last the Raven emerged into the world once more, this time as a human infant.  

 Longing for Spring by Sharmon Davidson

      Even though he had a rather strange appearance, the Raven's grandfather loved him. But the old man threatened dire punishment if he ever touched the precious treasure box. Nonetheless the Ravenchild begged and begged to be allowed to hold the light just for a moment. 

      In time the old man yielded, and lifted from the box a warm and glowing sphere, which he threw to his grandson.  

Ancestral Ground by Sharmon Davidson

      As the light was moving toward him, the human child transformed into a gigantic black shadowy bird-form, wings spread ready for flight, and beak open in anticipation. As the beautiful ball of light reached him, the Raven captured it in his beak!  

Kiva Spirits by Sharmon Davidson

      Moving his powerful wings, he burst through the smokehole in the roof of the house, and escaped into the darkness with his stolen treasure. 

      And that is how light came into the universe. 

  Rise (detail) by Sharmon Davidson

As is the case with most ancient myths, numerous versions of this story evolved as it was passed down orally over time; to read more, click here and  here.

I hope you found this interesting.  To learn more about the relationship of Jung's Archetypes to mythology, an excellent and beautiful book you might want to read is Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth.