When I'm walking in my garden, if I see a feather, I'm drawn to pick it up. I know if I don't pick it up it will be gone, deteriorating in the sun and weather, a fleeting feather. For some reason I think of each feather I find as good luck. I found this hawk feather the other day in the back yard. The colors are so pale and muted.
I've read about slip feathering, I'd like to try this technique on a plate. I'll bet Ron Philbeck could show me how to achieve this slip feathering technique, since he is a slip decorator extraordinaire.
The previous day I saw this juvenile hawk sitting on the fence. The second after I took this photo he swooped down to catch a rodent in the back yard and was gone. I think he left his fleeting feather as a calling card for me.
Isn't it neat how lavish nature can be with beauty, and that beauty is not just reserved for the "important" things that are designed to last. The fragile wings of a mayfly, the markings of a butterfly, foam on a breaking wave, patterns in a snow flake. Beauty in so many things that we don't see too, such as crystal structures in rocks. Some would say that beauty is all in the eye of the beholder, but I would say that it is a gift to behold! The Very Best of Luck! Peter
ReplyDeleteOH! I hope he got one of those baby rattlesnakes you get and not a cute little rabbit.
ReplyDeleteNice feather, fyi though, some raptor feathers are illegal to possess.....
ReplyDeleteHi Peter, yes lots of beauty surrounds us all within and without.
ReplyDeleteHi Gary, I haven't seen any rabbits around here, just gophers and ground squirrels. My Gary said he saw a hawk down by the river carrying a rattlesnake though. He also saw a huge one the other day with 12 rattles.
Hi Earl and Vickie, I know they are illegal to possess. Laws have been made to protect raptors but possession of a found feather does not harm the raptors. I realize that is the only way it can be determined if someone has killed and harvested the raptor. I am part Native American and I possess the found feathers with respect; I would never do anything to harm them. Most times I just gather them from the ground and place them in a potted plant I have outside near a bench. Then when I sit on the bench I get to view the feathers, but this particular one would have been run over by the lawn mower, so I gathered it up.
i need some of those hawks to come to my neighborhood and have a little squirrel lunch
ReplyDeleteHi Jim, wonder if you couldn't get one of those owl nesting boxes and put one up in a tall tree in your neighborhood to help with those squirrels? That would only help if squirrles are active at night and I don't know if they are. Otherwise you definitely need some hawks, eagles, coyotes, or cats. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThe feather is beautiful - I often back track if I find a feather laying on the ground - but most often they are pigeon or black bird feathers or an occasional goose in my urban park.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done anything with my feathers other than to tuck them in a drawer in my studio with the thought of using them later.
Hi Cynthia, I have a bunch that I've saved in a basket. I save them and keep saying some day I'll use them, but that day hasn't come yet. I half thought of using them in one of my barrel fired pieces some how, maybe one of these days.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteI do the same with coins.. if I'm out running or whatever and see one on the ground, even a penny, I pick it up and save it. Not quite sure why-- it's just fun.
Gosh, please don't send any hawks to Charlotte, NC. Way happy for all of them to go to Louisville, KY. And, about my glazing: Thanks, but I have LOTS to learn and this glaze combo has been the best so far... using a hydrometer is helpful, and praying for good things to happen in the kiln (plus humidity for a gas kiln) is great. Luck is always a factor, as you know.
Hey Amy, they say a penny saved is a penny earned, nowadays we need every penny we can get. I've been flying by the seat of my pants without a hydromete, perhaps that will be my next purchase. Why wouldn't you want any hawks, they are beneficial and beautiful and they wouldn't hurt a human, they take care of pesky little rodents we don't want like rats, mice, voles, ground squirrels, gophers and more.
ReplyDeleteEven as a federal native all feathers MUST be issued by the government. They will fine even us carded natives we can't go and pick them off the ground either, if your truly religious you wont mind the fine though what i can't understand is what they would do if someone told them it was illegal to have a bible. Just be careful they are NOT forgiving on that law EVEN for natives we must have a CITES permit for EVERY feather be warned.
ReplyDeleteHi Rain Warrior, thanks so much. I see these type of feathers in places like Michaels and antique stores and yet we can't pick up a discarded feather by a bird, so sad what our world has come to, although I understand the need to protect birds from those not so respectful and loving as many like you and I. I wouldn't mind a fine depending on how much it was, but I do believe if I find a feather on the ground it is almost imperative for me and there is some uncontrollable need for me to pick it up and preserve the feather for reflection and later to examine and try to illustrate in my ceramics. thank you for your advice and post.
ReplyDeleteActually based on the banding pattern I'm pretty sure that is an owl feather not a hawk.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I agree with you... the laws are frusterating and stupid. Based on my experience with birds, you actually CAN tell a molted from a plucked feather based on the shaft. Warrior said it right... how would they feel if they had to go through red tape and possibly be denied a bible based on critera determined by someone outside their religion? My guess is it wouldn't go over well.
The law means well, but it directly flies in the face of the right to religious freedom. Applying to the government for the tools to practice our faith and hoping we are accepted isn't right. Laws that prevent us from accepting the gifts the Creator brings us... it bothers me a lot. :/
Hi Lilsongbird, thanks, well an owl feather is wonderful too. We had a great horned owl that flew over our property each night so I am not surprised. Freedom of religion, someone should test that in the courts when they are fined, but that takes money I don't have and time I don't want to spend my time on. Thanks so much for your thoughts.
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