Avian Art

I recently decided to start a blog. But instead of just focusing on my business, I wanted a blog about something related to my artwork, but not about my artwork... Something I'm passionate about and interested in...something with a cohesive theme... Something positive...

Birds. I love birds! Fat little birds. Big wise owls. Adorable penguins. Breathtaking raptors. Even pigeons. I also love art and indie designers and supporting small businesses and green businesses and ethical products. I love Etsy and Imagekind. And I'm pretty darn good at researching stuff. So here it is.

From Ancient Greece to China and Egypt and everywhere in between, birds have been celebrated and revered, even worshipped and deified, in art. Birds are used as symbols of peace, of the human soul, of religious figures and events.

Even before the United States adopted the image of the Bald Eagle (which, incidently, won out over Ben Franklin's suggestion of the Wild Turkey), eagles were used as symbols of strength in both the Western and Eastern worlds. The soldiers of Napoleon's army each carried a bronze eagle. In Aztec culture, the eagle symbolized the rising sun. And in many Native American cultures, eagles were associated with the warrior spirit.

In ancient Egypt, the ibis represented the soul as well as the god, Thoth, who is often depicted in artwork with an ibis head. The ibis was also later used to represent devotion and perseverence in Christianity.

In ancient Greece, the owl often accompanied the goddess Athena, who was both a warrior goddess and the goddess of wisdom. According to Wikipedia, "In Hindu mythology, the owl is considered to be a vehicle of the Goddess Lakshmi..." In other locations, owls were regarded with fear, as symbols of bad luck. The Kikuyu people of Kenya, as well as the Aztecs and Mayans, believed that seeing an owl meant someone would die. In other locations the species of owl one saw determined whether it was considered a good or bad omen.

In more recent history, most people are probably familiar with the work of John James Audubon (1785-1851), who painted and catalogued North American birds. You may also be familiar with The Audubon Society, which was named in his honor. An original copy of his book, "The Birds of America", published in the early 1800's and consisting of 435 hand-colored prints measuring over 2-3 feet across, sold some years ago for 8.8 million dollars. However, reproductions of his book and paintings are widely available.

There are endless examples of birds as symbols of both positive and negative attributes and even more examples of bird symbolism in ancient and recent art and objects. Human beings will likely never tire of bird imagery. (I know I won't!)

If you want more information or are interested in where I got my information, I highly recommend Wikipedia, as well as "The Illustrated Book of Signs and Symbols" by Miranda Bruce-Mitford.