Endangered Species — The Artist take on the story
For the past ten years, give or take a year or two, “endangered speices” has been one of the core underpins of my networked conceptual structure. I believe that all species are endangered, from crabgrass to ladyslippers.
Owls are amazing birds and research shows them to be highly adaptable to different environments and changes. As a result of this there is no doubt that they have been around for millions of years. — from www.owlworlds.com
Now, I do not associate the idea of owls with New York City. But it turns out that 2020 was a very good year for owls there. On January 27 of this year, a snowy owl turned up in Central Park for the first time since 1890. The Manhattan Bird Alert tweeted out an image of it with an American Crow. So many bird enthusiasts went to see it that the Urban Park Rangers had to keep order.
This Snowy Owl is doing what owls do best: getting ready to eat its prey. It does stand to reason that burgeoning vegetation and uncut grass might create environments where mice and voles would thrive, bringing more owls there. The Snowy Owl has a wingspan of up to five feet. The image of that owl soaring through Manhattan does strike my imagination.
Owls are adaptable survivors. Grass and weeds are adaptable survivors too. Humans of course have an impact on all species, to their detriment or to their advancement; in the end, humans are an endangered species too. Some say that artists are an endangered species. I say, “Not so!” Humans have been creating art since 30,000 years BCE and before that. Perhaps the benefit is not measurable in a way that everyone can understand or create a graph for.. but one of my missions as an artist is to re-create that drive in people who might be looking for it. My vehicle is stitch and resist dye. If you are interested in that, you can find me and follow me. I love the journey.
Carol LeBaron
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