Birds of the Air
It was my New Year's resolution to go for a walk every morning. I liked the idea that in the dead of winter in Michigan, I would get my body moving and breathing fresh air. And like all good New Year’s resolutions, this lasted about 3 weeks. Thankfully, three weeks was plenty of time to drum up some inspiration that has guided me through the spring. It was on those walks that I would hear the birds and think about how cold they must be. Right? They must be freezing. When I got home and googled “why don’t birds freeze,” I learned that in addition to storing extra fat, they trap pockets of air around their bodies and the oil from their feathers keeps them dry/waterproof. Incredible.
There is a verse in Matthew, when Jesus is right at the heart of his Sermon on the Mount, when he says to his audience “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” When I thought of this verse as I was on my walks, listening to the birds, my first thought was - those lucky birds and their little bird brains. They don’t even have the capacity for worry, how nice that would be! I would love to just not worry. But my second thought, went back to Jesus’ rhetorical question - Are you not much more valuable than they? Well. Do I have all I need for this day - am I clothed, fed, sheltered and provided for? Yes, I am. And it struck me that more than comparing us to birds and their large capacity for unconcern about their wellbeing, Jesus was reminding his audience to remember what they have been given on this day. To be grateful for the way their own needs have been, and will be, provided for again and again. For what better antidote for anxiety is there than gratitude?
The Birds of the Air series is about this wisdom. Each painting is a visual reminder of these beautiful little creatures who sing in the middle of winter, while pockets of air keep them warm. And they have all they need. Visually, I included two birds in each painting as the reminder that we are never alone. The birds are layered among abstracted florals (mostly tulips, because, Holland). And these flowers point to the verse in Matthew that directly follows what Jesus says about the birds - “See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.” He reminds us of the incredible beauty of flowers. Flowers that will surely bloom each spring whether we do anything or not.
I like the term “feathered friends” as it relates to birds, as the ones in this series have become like friends to me. They are all birds I have witnessed or heard outside of my home this season. There is a reason that birds have held spiritual and personal meaning for people since, well, forever. My visual take on this is another layer to the rich story that has been, and will continue to be told about our feathered friends. A story that gives us hope that we too will be provided for with all that we need.
