Recently she visited me in a completely unexpected way. I was visiting my sister in Steamboat Springs and spent a morning being entertained by all the little birds hopping about on the deep snow eating seeds from her birdfeeder. Later that afternoon we visited an arts and crafts store downtown. I fell in love with a bird “puzzle” there. Once it is put together, it becomes a 3 dimensional wall hanging completed by a pretty fabric, embroidered bird. That night,i woke up with my heart pounding in excitement thinking about creating Messenger Birds.The Muse had paid me a visit! All those birds popping up were forms of my Muse, a shape shifter! My Messenger Bird’s may be painted or be assemblage/reliquary figures. I want to “channel” their messages into the pieces i create. The possibilities are endless. I got started right away with this stenciled and painted bird which is not finished yet.
Speaking of finished (or not) art work, sometimes i put a piece away for awhile (days? years?) and then it calls out to me to go back into it. Several years ago I created a painting, “Pity the Blind” that has Kinnara’s in it- (half-human, half-bird figures) inspired by the Kinnaras that we saw in Bali. My Muse has nudged me to re-visit these as Messenger Birds.
YAY! for inspiration- whether from assignments (my last blog) or my Muse!!! Time to get in the studio!!!
~ by Deedee Hampton on April 21, 2014.