Thread: Blue Jay and Robin

Very nice Claude.
Not being familiar with those type of birds, are your carvings close to actual size that those birds get?.

Originally Posted by artful bodger

Very nice Claude.
Not being familiar with those type of birds, are your carvings close to actual size that those birds get?.

No - the adults of both species average around 26cm beak to tail. My carvings are just a bit over 1/4 scale.

Claude

Yes I get these totally, very nice indeed.
30 odd years ago I briefly used to make my living for a while caving birds but at life size . I used to put legs on them using guitar strings wrapped in cotton .
Truth is with birds the time this took together with the painting, to mention nothing of the wood-burning I wished I had more time for ! It was low paid slave labour!
In the US. though, there is a long held tradition of appreciation of so called folk art that is still alive today , & is exemplified by work such as your own. Don't they see the charm ? do they really want a sculpture that looks like it was scanned with a laser ? Or might a human hand & eye capture more spirit ?
I certainly think so !

As soon as I saw Claude's Jay and the Robin, I decided that I needed a Grey Jay (= Whiskey Jack) carved in his style.
They are Corvids with Ravens and Crows. They are camp-robbers willing to steal the toast out of your hand.
The original Algonquin native bird name is Wisakedjak.
I have a live fig tree in my livingroom, about 6' tall x 6' across with several carved birds in it.
So the perch is ready made.