25 Nov The Story of ShirleyBirds
How It ALL Started
My Momsy, Shirley, has been a creative inspiration to me my whole life. She is a VERY CREATIVE, TALENTED WOMAN. She PAINTS, she GARDENS, she BUILDS, she CARVES. This story is about her CARVINGS. Her Father, my Grandfather, Paul, was an inventive, creative who loved to carve, too. He must have passed it on to us. I remember learning to carve as a young child. Mom and Dad started us out with a Dove soap bar and a table knife and a little coaching. Yes, Dad tried his hand at carving, too. I remember the feeling of carving away what didn’t belong there and watching with fascination and satisfaction as something appeared like a Bear or a Turtle. We felt so excited and proud of our creations! Creating things in my family was always important.
Walking Sticks
I remember Grandpa carving WALKING STICKS. We camped a lot and I remember as we would hike, we were always on the lookout for good wood branches for walking sticks or canes. Grandpa got pretty fancy once, making a cage with a ball in it with a nice long branch. He also carved one with a snake curled around it.
Mom just recently visited me here in GardenSong, TN. She would explore about in the morning and found some VERY HARD WOOD, a gift from the BODARK TREE, also known as Horse Apple or Osage Orange, to carve into a walking stick. She asked me for a RAZOR KNIFE and some SAND PAPER and a TOWEL to catch the wood chips.
It was wonderful to watch her day by day, stripping off the bark, uncovering the surprising beauty of the wood underneath. Finding something like an ANCIENT LANGUAGE etched into the surface, (ancient language of the BUGS?) seeing the dark and light wood sections flowing around each other, smoothing out all the pokey outs and sanding it smooth. Watching her stroking the wood and shaping it into what she wanted it to be. I watched her in creation mode with curiosity and fascination.
We Love Birds!
I LOVE BIRDS! Here in GardenSong, TN, there are LOTS of BIRDS. Brilliant Red Cardinals, Squawky Blue Jays, precocious Black Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouses (or is that mices?) Robins, feisty Hummingbirds, friendly gregarious Wrens, worrisome Crows, bawdy pushy noisy Grackles, many kinds of tap tap tapping Flickers and read headed Woodpeckers in the Winter. Occasionally we see something unusual, like a gorgeous Gold Finch. It is always exciting to see something new. The air is filled with Birdsongs from morning to night here.
Just recently, this fall, I saw at least 8 Cardinals pecking around on and around the big Hugel Berm where I toss all the big stalked plants and grasses when they are cleared. It was so funny, at one moment there were 6 of them lined up in a row! It looked staged! Birds are so much fun to watch. I love to photograph them.
My Momsy, Shirley, loves BIRDS, too. In fact she showed me once how she talks to the birds. In her mind, she talks to them and they respond. One day we were in the canyon and told me to watch quietly. She pointed to a little bird nearby. She sat with her legs crossed at a picnic bench. She got very quiet and focused and soon that little bird flew right over and landed on her knee! I was delighted. I asked her how she did it and she said it was with love and talking to it. She is an amazing woman!
ShirleyBirds
Shirley loves to CARVE and she carves BIRDS! I remember once she carved a set of Blue Jay wall plaques. I think of her house and I see those sassy bright blue birds hanging on the wall! She has little bird statues here and there and has created very magical environments where they show off, along with all their other magical friends.
“I can make one in about 5 sittings. If there are maybe 5 birds, it may take more sittings. To cut out, carve, sand, paint, mount, find the base, paint it, and I know it is lots of work, but it is past time to me. It is pleasure to me to create something that wasn’t there except in my mind. I know you like to create and make mind dreams come true.” Shirley
In the recent years, she has carved many little birds and hand paints them with acrylics. She finds just the right piece of unusual wood to mount them on. Her carvings are unique and lovely, each one different.
I have a set of 3 little Black Capped Chickadees she surprised me with as a gift! They are in my kitchen on a shelf with little winged tree fungi tucked under each one and a little snail or shell or nature relic nearby.
She named them ShirleyBirds. They make lovely unique gifts for family, friends or yourself. She sometimes has a little inventory on hand. Usually you order what you want far enough in advance for her to have time to create them. You can request the kinds of birds you want. If she can see good enough photos of them, she can carve most any kind of bird. There are a few that are too challenging. She will let you know. She will let you know the price with shipping extra. Here are some photos of the ShirleyBirds she has created. If there is a painting behind the birds, it is hers, she paints beautiful landscapes, also.
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Visit ShirleyBirds Gallery
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