Blackbird

My grandson's favorite song is "Blackbird," and one of his first words. The sound of it can change his mood for the better in an instant. We see ravens and crows on our visits to the park and his visits to our garden. They are all blackbirds. So I made him a blackbird -- drew the silhouette on a piece of poplar (about seven inches wide, five inches high), cut it out on the bandsaw, used a drill press and then a dremel on the gap between legs. A lot of sanding. I painted one side with Black 3.0 and left the other side unfinished, sanded, and sealed with Tung oil. Then I added a layer of beeswax and polished. I made a special presentation box. There's a lot going on in this pic. At the top is the bottom half of Space Ganesha, hanging on the door is a hamsa I got in Jerusalem, next to it and mostly obscured by the presentation box is a Tibetan thanka, given to me by a friend of mine who lives in Amsterdam, works for a Buddhist society affiliated with the Dalai Lama, who gave her the thanka. The white fabric framing the thanka are katas -- blessing scarves, also from HH. On the wall is a small brass Garuda I bought in Ayutthaya. Hanging from it is Huichol beadwork. Slightly above Garuda is a small framed painting of my mother's. If you've taken the 3D tour of my office, one of the clickable items is a painting that manifested a revival of my mom's life force at a crucial time.