Dream Birds

Birds and the idea of flying flow into my dreams sometimes. I have had phases throughout my life in which I will have dreams, sometimes several in a row, in which I can just flap my arms and fly up so high. It’s a beautiful feeling.

In the dream, it isn’t scary, it’s freeing. A free feeling I always long for more of. Going up so high above the trees and up above the clouds.

This feeling of flying and birds or other flying creatures flow into my art as well.

There is some connection with my mother with the bird images too. She had a variety of bird imagery in her house, including one of my woodblock prints of a baby piping plover, which she had in her bedroom. This isn’t a great picture of it due to the glare, but you get the idea.

There was also a beautiful Mexican tin bird in her studio, surrounded by postcards of work by artists who inspired her. There was something birdlike in my mom’s physical delicacy and an ephemeral quality she could have at times, that she wasn’t completely of the earth.

And there is a lovely bird teacup I gave to her years ago, which I have had since she passed. It reminded me so much of her when I saw it in a store.

I have a small sculpted woman leaping through the air that my mother gave me decades ago. Though a little worse for wear now, the spirit of it still feels how I feel flying in the air.

A couple of years back, a magical bird appeared in a dream. The front part of the bird was like a large sparrow, but the bird had a fan-like tail of feathers that were similar to a peacock, but in primary colors rather than the iridescent colors of a peacock. The next day, I had to draw a few pictures of the bird so that it wouldn’t disappear from my mind.

The bird seemed like it might have a few friends as well.

This is a version of the Gypsy bird in Strappo Monotype, and next to it a small sculpture. I describe more about strappo here.

Here is the completed diorama with the sculpture inside:

And jewelry…

The image comes back to me sometimes, and makes me smile. A magical feeling to brighten my day.

My most recent bird dream was last night. I was visiting a friend who had a big house and animals were running all over the place. I think she had just moved in. This was not a person I know in my waking life, but in the dream she was someone I knew. The house seemed to be out in the country, but in the dream it was in Manhattan (I was going to say “the city”, like some New Yorkers say:)).

I knew I had to leave soon, I think she did too. But all of a sudden I saw the most lovely bird land on a window ledge. She was about the size of a starling, but was a soft brown color. She had very thin, delicate wings, much thinner than a starling, and there were a couple of spots of white on her as well. But her right leg was messed up. I really wanted to help her. I told my friend I wanted to take her to the Wild Bird Fund, a real place on the Upper West Side where they care for and rehabilitate birds and other small wildlife like squirrels. I was wondering if there was a box around that we could put the bird in to transport her.

I woke up before I had the chance to help her, and I felt sad I wasn’t able to help her while I was in the dream. I told my partner Jeffrey about the dream. He googled my description of the bird and here is what Google came up with. She is a starling from Missouri. Here she is:

This is definitely in the ball park as far as the color, size, shape. But starlings generally are quite feisty and the bird in the dream was soft and sweet and gentle.

I first drew the bird as I saw her in my dream.

Then I visualized her healed and strong, and flying freely through the air.

Last, I will share with you a song. Lyrics are below the video.

Birds Flying
I walk through the city
But I’m feeling the sky
Above all the buildings
I want to fly
Through the leaves and the trees
To the waves and the sea
Feel the sand on my feet
And the salt air breeze
Birds flying over my head
Birds flying over my head
Above all the concrete
So far up in the sky
Where the birds fly so freely
I want to fly
Birds flying over my head
Birds flying over my head.

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