Source: the Met in NYC.
Imitating Art
The other day, I caught (photographically, obviously) a Brewer's blackbird with a tasty bit of flying protein in its beak.
Maybe I've studied way too much art history back in the day, but the bird's pose mimics early medieval Scandinavian bird-of-prey brooches--or vice versa--and other metalwork from similar cultures.
The most constructive aspect thereof--for me, at least--is that wildlife photography demonstrates how stylized art from over a thousand years ago was rooted in the craftsman's keen observation of nature.
So, when I edited my image, I've deliberately left some elements of metal fencing below as a referential gesture.
Yup, definitely too much art history!
The Gray
Springtime rain season in the greater Pacific Northwest should be over by now, but it's gray again.
This is the kind of uniform, all-encompassing gray that consumes the mountains, rooftops, trees, then everything else around.
It feels, smells, and sounds like fall. Late October, in fact, just after my birthday.
Even when the rain slows down, the gray remains--perhaps, with an occasional meager glimpse of sunlight.
I walk out in my bright red raincoat, passing by the railroad and scaring away a slew of Brewer's blackbirds perched up on the fence. They, too, want to take advantage of the chasm in the gray before it swallows the sun again.