I have a soft spot for birds, especially dead birds. As I think about that fascination I am taken back to my youth. I had a bow and arrow in the back yard and was doing some target practice. On the other side of our large yard I saw a robin in the grass. I thought I would give it a good scare. I took aim and let the arrow fly expecting it to land near the bird and scare it into flight. I never thought it would be any closer than within a foot or so. I just wasn’t that good. But to my horror the arrow skewered the robin. I felt terrible. It was a tragedy that has never left me. I still feel guilty about the whole event.
I never felt the robin received proper acknowledgment. I made an image, a requiem of sorts titled “For and in behalf Cock Robin who is dead.” A dead bird is the focal point with a rectangle of 3 layers of fabric below referencing the three fates. There are two guardian birds, one on either side . It was a way of paying tribute for a life ended by a thoughtless act. So dead birds show up in my work from time to time.
