Raven & Crow Skulls
Folklore of the Hebrides tells that giving a newborn his first drink from the skull of a raven will give the child wisdom and the power of prophesy. In today’s world, drinking from a raven skull is probably not as acceptable, but nothing should stop you from promoting the delicate magic such artifacts hold. Dreadful Things crafts beautifully styled gothic jewelry, accessories, and curiosities using crow skulls and feathers. Each piece is hand-made and the skulls are from animals which have passed on from natural causes. . . ...
read moreRavens in Celtic Mythology
Ravens figure heavily in Celtic mythology and legend. They were linked to darkness and death – especially the death of warriors in battle. Celtic war goddesses often took the form of a raven. In “The Dream of Rhonabwy”, the knight Owein battles King Arthur in a dream world assisted by ravens. Some tales suggest that the great King Arthur himself was turned in to a raven upon his death. Rhonabwy is the most literary of the medieval Welsh prose tales. It may have also been the last written. A colophon at the end declares that...
read moreKerri Fuhr Glass
Kerri Fuhr is a Canadian glass bead artist specializing in miniature portraits of whimsical animals. She uses a variety of materials such as antique ivory and Italian glass. This bead was handcrafted with Italian glass and wound on a 3/32″ mandrel. The raven is made from thin glass “stringer” and is melted directly into the bead. To view her collection or get on of your very own one of a kind pieces, click...
read moreKate McGwire
I gather, collate, re-use, layer, peel, burn, reveal, locate,question, duplicate, play and photograph In an attempt to avoid the puerility of the present, some artists such as Kate McGwire have turned to myth and ritual to find meaning in the now via a gothic surrealism. Much of Kate’s work references Freud’s ‘Unheimliche’ (the uncanny, or, literally, the ‘unhomely’); the idea, to quote Freud, of ‘a place where the familiar can somehow excite fear’. It also embraces artistic notions of...
read moreRiccardo Tisci: Givenchy
Riccardo Tisci pulls from the flirtatious texture of feathers and the shape of black wings amongst spiral-cut sprays of organza, jumpsuits in black lace with boleros, and a section of long evening looks that ran from creamy flamenco-influenced layers of Chantilly to more severe midnight blue columns covered with flying capes of black chiffon in his couture debut for Givenchy Spring 2010 in Paris. Like this look? Get a similar one...
read morePolly Morgan
In 1889 Carl Akeley, working for the Milwaukee Public Museum, created the first total habitat diorama by arranging stuffed muskrats into a facsimile of their natural environment. While the originators of the diorama strove to heighten its sense of reality, many contemporary artists have used the medium’s format to comment on its artificiality or hyper reality. Polly Morgan is one such fairly new British artist focused on Avian still life. Rather than mimicking the natural setting, she places them in unexpected and wholly unnatural scenes...
read moreCrowmageddon
Every month, birders in the Twin Cities (MN, USA) get together for Birds and Beers. It is a social event to bring birders together and it is hosted by Birdchick. Last month they chose to gather in Loring Park, central to downtown Minneapolis, to watch the Crows come in to roost for the night. As the sun began to set, the Crows came in wave after wave with clans ranging from 30 birds to hundreds. Kirk Mona was kind enough to shoot the below video showing this amazing event. The crows are small, click the full screen button on the video to get...
read moreBen Hassett
Ben is a photographer and filmmaker who lives and works between NYC and Europe. His life and work have been profiled in The British Journal of Photography and Playboy. A regular contributor to Vogue magazines worldwide, including French, German and Japanese, he is best known for his striking and sometimes disturbing images of beauty. Each photograph mimics the sharp intellect, form, and macabre sense of the corvid eye, making Hassett one to adore.
read moreMidnight Digital
Birds consistently appear as silhouetted guides for the doomed and enraptured characters in Christophe Dessaigne’s beautifully worked photographic art. Check out his most interesting gallery, Midnight Digital here.
read moreStephanie Metz
Stephanie Metz is an accomplished and award winning sculptor and instructor who uses a unique felting process to create her animal-inspired art. A Study in...
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