Stay tuned for house happenings, gardening gab, cat capers, craft chat, general jibber jabber … in short, nothing that most folks will care a lick about. If you are one of the few who do, you are in luck!

I haven’t yet thoroughly explored this artist’s site (there is a lot to take in), but what I’ve seen and read so far is very intriguing. I’m putting it on my “visit when I have more time” list…

“R. Eugene Parnell is an artist working in sculpture, installation, and interactive media…Much of his work deals with natural and cultural history, anthropology, and the notion of the Exotic and his thinking is fueled by his extensive travels throughout the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. His newest body of work—the psychological and social constructs of animals, from Natural History museums to children’s literature.”

Some of my favorite topics are mentioned in that snippet. Among other activities, the site enables you to build your own island. Mucho neato. (Thanks to Niemandsrose for the reference!)

Every so often, I notice that a particular visual motif appears with increasing frequency. For the past couple of years, illustrations of songbirds, crows and chickens have been attracting my attention from all quarters and I wonder why such unassuming subjects seem suddenly to be so popular. In many cases, our humble feathered friends have acquired a seemingly hip caché as they associate with contemporary artists and the denizens of bars and nightclubs. Are these birds to the 2000s what owls and mushrooms were to the 1970s? What is it about these creatures that resonates with the current collective psyche? Is it their shyness? Their fragility (often emphasized by delicate line and color)? Do they symbolize the bucolic desires of city dwellers? Is this back to nature, Aughties style? Do we wish for a little art in our natural science?

A modest cross-section, from local to corporate:

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