Wild Earth Integration

Okay, so it’s not my best title.

But there are some new Earthwings up and ready to go!

Don’t forget to check out the gallery above for more, or visit the nice people on the Artifacts FB page for updates.

Snowy Owl

Red winged black bird

Cardinal

I’m also happy to take suggestions or commissions for any of your favorite birds! Big Bird, anyone?

Keep it wild!

Feathers are underrated.

Not only do they allow birds to fly whenever they please, they also provide warmth, strength and a means of communication to others.

Feathers are also a world themselves. Birds use feathers to build their nests, keeping their young ones warm. Creatures live within their barbs, building cities that are invisible to us.

To some, feathers symbolize communication with higher realms and spiritual wisdom. Across cultures, the feather has become known as a symbol of the sky. Freedom.

“Look at the feather. In it is all that is – the ability to soar, to float, to reconnect, to come and go.”

It’s easy to ignore the birds around you.

But to Aboriginal people (living centuries ago as well as today), birds were important animal totems that often acted as messengers.

I like the sounds of that.

Although humans still look to nature as a ‘how-to’ manual for many problems of design and industry (biomimicry is all the rage, you know), I think looking to animals in a more personal sense would greatly benefit each of us.

To celebrate birds as animal totems, I created a line called Earthwings. People identify with different animals, so if any of the birds here strikes your fancy you may want to pay attention and see if any make an appearance in your life.

Check out the descriptions to learn about each bird and its messages to you.

Blue Jay

For those of you who have met this guy, you know he is the rock star of the bird world. Very chatty, very brave and endlessly curious. Many believed that his azure feathers mirrored the sky, helping one to see their life with clarity and truth. Blue Jay reminds you to communicate well and be assertive with your needs.

Eagle (1/wrapped around shell, 2/with medicine wheel 3/free-standing with beading)

If you ever get a chance to travel to eagle country, do it. The sheer size and power of these birds will stop you in your tracks. Traditionally, eagle represents skill, leadership and protection. Observe the way they find the thermals in the air to soar and they’re also a lesson in ‘work smart, not hard’.

Raven

Ravens, like wolves, have a bad reputation. But that’s the beauty of raven. He could care less what people think of him. The latest experiments show ravens executing incredible feats with tools, but their intelligence is nothing new to us. Cunning and skill are traits of the raven, along with an ability to keep and pass on information. If you connect with raven, you are most likely a smart cookie who knows all your neighbours’ secrets.

Parrot

Parrots might seem an odd bird for this mix, but who am I to exclude the colourful? Australian aboriginals know more about parrot, believing he is a sign to keep material things in their place. Loving the sound of their own voice, parrot also teaches humility.

Blue Feathers

This is my own addition to this mix, because I think there is a very important message to be found in blue feathers. Why? Because there is no such thing as blue feathers! There are no blue birds on the planet.

Really!

The blue feathers we see on jays, herons and other blue birds is actually the product of two optical illusions. One occurs because of how we see light and the other is due to the physics of the feather itself. So the feathers aren’t blue, but they look blue.

The message that I’m choosing to take from this (and thus endeth the long winded explanation) is that the world is more mysterious than we know and if you want to see blue feathers, you will. Knowing how something works doesn’t change the magic of it occurring in the first place.

I’m planning on doing more Earthwings and animal totem pieces, so if you’d like to send in a suggestion for a creature that you relate with, email me at wildearthintegration (at) gmail (dot) com.

(comments are off due to spammy problems for the moment).

Keep it wild!

Birds. They’re cute. They’re spunky. They’re probably eating from your feeders right now. Whether you live in a snowy climate right now (guilty) or not, chances are you’ve doled out some cash to feed the birds in your backyard. But what do you really know about your avian neighbors? Today on ‘Science with a Side of Awesome’, I give you 5 things worth knowing about the birds. (No, not the birds and the bees, you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.)

• Okay, so you’re probably not actively feeding this guy, but I had to include him because he’s just so awesome. And really, he will eat birds and rodents from your backyard, so indirectly, you’re feeding him. Along with having talons like nobody’s business, hawks have eyesight that is 8 times stronger than a human’s. Seriously, a hawk could read a newspaper from seven stories high. (If you are a hawk and reading this, congratulations on learning to read.)

• Birds don’t have diaphragms. You know what that means? They can’t get hiccups. Which really, is too bad, because I think they’d be hilarious to watch if they did.

• Many birds have hollow bones. Inside them are criss-crossing tresses which help support them. This helps keep the weight down so they can fly, but not get crushed easily.

• Have you ever noticed how birds reach their heads around and preen from the base of their tail? This is because there is a special gland there called a uropygial gland. This gland secretes oils, which help waterproof its feathers. A bird will rustle feathers at the base of its tail to collect some of the oil, then spread it all over its body.

• There isn’t a single blue feather in the world. No, I’m not just messing with you. The reason some birds look blue is that there are 2 optical illusions going on in your brain. Feathers that look blue to us are really showing off a series of deformed prisms and iridescence. And to think, those blue birds are probably walking around thinking they’ve got us all fooled…

If you’re a bird fan (and who isn’t, really?), one of my twitter pals @KerriFar has a lovely shop set up with all sorts of bird-related goodies. Pop on by here to check it out!

She also has a great blog at www.thesunriseofmylife.blogspot.com. Need incentive? Check out this gorgeous shot of hers!

That’s all for today. Happy Friday!

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful..."

The macaw is a beautiful creature that is quite well known for its intelligence, bubbly birdsonality and downright eerie ability to mimic human speech. But since it’s International Macaw Day (I just declared it), I thought I would treat you to some trivia on our flashy, florid, feathered friends.

5. They are rowdy party goers. In other words, they love spending time in a big flock of 20-30 individuals. There are 17 different species of macaws and they’re all the life of the party. Just don’t ask them to keep it down, because they just won’t listen.

4. Don’t let the cute face fool you — the hyacinth macaw is the biggest of its kind, with a wingspan of four feet. They also have a tongue that has a bone in it, that helps them easily crack through the tough shells of nuts and seeds. Take that, Tweety.

3. They self-medicate. You know how you run off to the drugstore and grab yourself some of that pink stuff when you have a stomach ache? Animals do that too, they just don’t have ready access to drugstores. Instead, they use what’s around them. Macaws (and a whole truckload of other animals) have been known to eat damp soil, which helps to neutralize their stomach and all of its fruity-diet induced erks and aches.

2. They get married. Ok, so that was wildly anthropomorphic, but macaws really do mate for life. (In fact, I bet their ‘divorce’ rate is much better than ours…) Once a macaw has found its other half, they will breed together, groom each other, share food and quote Tennyson. Bottom line: if your marriage is in trouble, perhaps you should talk to a macaw.

1. Most of them are lefties. Yeah, you heard me. Lefties. Scientists have determined this by carefully filming and documenting dominant hand/claw preference for hours on end. They probably could have saved some time by trying to high-five them.

So there you have it. Up next, International Buy Me A Sandwich Day. Any takers?