Of a Feather: Research and Inspiration

[shantell]

What is a bird?

• According to Merriam Webster, a bird is "any of a class (Aves) of warm-blooded vertebrates distinguished by having the body more or less completely covered with feathers and the forelimbs modified as wings."
  

What makes a bird a bird?

• Birds are vertebrates.
  
• Birds have feathers.
  
• Birds have wings.
  
• Birds have bills.
  
• Birds are warm-blooded.
  
• Birds have high metabolisms.
  
• Birds are bipedal.
  
• Birds have a furcula (wishbone).
  
• Birds lay eggs.
  
• Birds communicate verbal and nonverbal sounds.
  
• Birds migrate.
  
• (From What is a bird?)
  

Who have they inspired?

• Charles Darwin began developing the theory of evolution after observing pigeons. Darwin’s Other Bird—The Domestic Pigeon
  

• The Wright Brothers spent a lot of time observing birds in flight. History of Flight - The Wright Brothers
  

• Jayson Fann creates "spirit nests" inspired by the nests of birds. Californian tree nests: Inspired by birds, built for people
  

Peregrination to Toronto

On Saturday, September 9, 2017, I travelled to the University of Toronto's Biodiversity Teaching Lab to draw and photograph biological specimens. I was immediately attracted to the cabinets filled with birds and bird parts.

Here are some of the specimens I photographed:












I set up a work station and chose some specimens to draw.


I ended up doing two drawings.

Comments

[shanmonster]

Add references to:
feathers
- symbolism
- importance in fashion
- feather dusters
- insulation in coats, duvets, sleeping bags, etc.
eggs
- as food
- symbolism
- as art theme
- as art medium (tempera, Ukrainian Easter eggs, etc.)
wings
- symbolism
- as art theme
artists
- Dali
- Faberge
illustrators
- John James Audubon
- William T. Cooper http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/the-bird-painting-of-william-t.-cooper/5461876
symbolism
mythology
history
anthropology
evolution

[shanmonster]

Herakles and the Stymphalian Birds
Angels having wings
Angels in the Bible have a bizarre number of wings
Sphinx having wings
Apollo had winged feet
Cupid had wings

Humpty Dumpty
The Little Red Hen
Big Bird
National Birds: Bald Eagle
Cartoon characters: Woody Woodpecker, Donald Duck, Daffy Duck, Howard the Duck, Tweety, the Roadrunner, Cleghorn Longhorn, Pigeon (from Mike Tyson Mysteries)
Advertising: Fruit Loops Toucan Sam, St. Hubert chicken,

[shantell]

Design ideas:

Assemblage presentation, like Victorian-style cabinet of curiosities https://asunder.deviantart.com/art/Victorian-Steampunk-Curios-165202465
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_curiosities
18th-century German Schrank