Thematic Design

I've always envied designers who have a clear coherent style or design ethos. My head is always so full of half formed ideas that I lurch from one thing to another with no clear path or direction. In some ways I love that because I get bored quite  easily and it's that plethora of ideas that keep me inspired. Just recently however I have found I'm using a recurring design element and have created a range of components that do have a clear style

When we did the Spring hare challenge back in March I wanted to include spiral symbolism in my designs somewhere to represent the rebirth and growth of the season. I'm still working with that design and have been developing new versions for the summer...

The spiral patterns in these designs are hand carved and I find this process very calming which is quite interesting when you see this definition of the symbolism of the spiral: 

Spiritually the spiral symbol can represent the path leading from outer consciousness (materialism, external awareness, ego, outward perception) to the inner soul (enlightenment, unseen essence, nirvana, cosmic awareness)". http://www.whats-your-sign.com/spiral-meaning.html

Shortly after making the hares I was thinking about a new design for an owl component - always popular but mine have been around for a while now. I wanted to try and keep it quite simple and stylised and if possible incorporate the spiral again and this is what I came  up with...

The spirals are not quite as full but the idea is still there.

At this point I wasn't planning to start an ark full of spiral decorated animals but my team mate Caroline suggested I should do a fox and course once she'd sown the seed there was no going back until these little fellows appeared...

Hot on the heels of the foxes came butterflies...

Followed in quick succession by turtles...

At that point a kiln failure brought everything to a halt which might be a good thing as it stops me getting carried away with the idea and doing it to death. That said I am pleased with the way this theme has developed and I do have plans for a couple more pieces but I might keep those for the future as you can have to much of a good thing!

Hopefully the kiln will be repaired shortly so that I can finish these little critters and get them into my shop so they can go out into the world and spread a little more enlightenment.

Folklore Friday - owls

The owl. Wise old owl, far seeing, who gives a hoot? Apparently we do! 

Owls as a motif have been huge over the last  - what? - 5 years? To the point where we may be getting a little saturated. But I still love them, timelessly, for their symbolism and mythic characteristics. So pour a cup of _________ ( beverage of your choice) and enjoy some folklore paired with my selections of artisan components!

Ancient Greece - 

The owl was the symbol of the Goddess Athena. Athena is known as the goddess of war - but from a strategy/cerebral perspective. She was a goddess of wisdom and Patroness of the arts. Potters prayed to her, she was credited with inventing weaving... In this association the owl becomes a symbol of wisdom. So closely linked were Athena and the owl that Ancient Athenian tetradrachma coins are minted with her profile on one side, the owl on the other. 

Clockwise from top left: 1 & 2 - Green Girl Studios. 3-5 - TheaToo. 6 & 9 - Kristi Bowman. 7 - HINT.  8 - DaisyChain 

Celtic Britain - 

Bloddeuwedd is a Welsh goddess closely associated with an owl... she was transformed into one! She was magically created from flowers by the magician Gwydion to be a wife to the hero Lleu. (His mother put a geas on him that he would marry no woman.) After developing free will, and falling in love with a man of her choosing, she tricks Lleu into revealing the secrets of his immortality, and attempts to kill him. Her punishment - she is turned into an owl by Gwydion : "You will not dare to show your face ever again in the light of day ever again, and that will be because of enmity between you and all other birds.  And you will not lose your name - that will always be "Bloddeuwedd (Flower-face)." ( In Welsh that is a name for an owl.) 

1 - Earthenwood. 2 - mine! 3 - White Clover kiln. 4 - Elukka. 5 - Blueberribeads. 6 - Joan Miller. 7 - Marla's Mud. 

The Americas

In the Americas, owls are sometimes seen in a different light. Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of death, was usually depicted with owls. The Mayan "Popol Vuh religious text says owls are messengers to Xibalba - the Mayan "Place of Fright". In many North American Indian traditions owls are seen as a very bad omen, a symbol of death. 

Owls are used as clan animals by some Native tribes including the Hopi, the Mohave and the Tlingit of the Pacific North west, where owls will appear as totem pole crests. I found this funny story: 

The Inuit people of Alaska have a legend about the Snowy Owl, in which Owl and Raven are making each other new clothes. Raven made Owl a pretty dress of black and white feathers. Owl decided to make Raven a lovely white dress to wear. However, when Owl asked Raven to allow her to fit the dress, Raven was so excited that she couldn’t hold still. In fact, she jumped around so much that Owl got fed up and threw a pot of lamp oil at Raven. The lamp oil soaked through the white dress, and so Raven has been black ever since.

1 - Inlovewithsaturday. 2 - gramatortoise. 3 - Juliechristie. 4 - byKeiara . 5 -  Peggysudz

Famous owls

Hedwig  - Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

               ( and Errol, Pidwidgeon, and the rest)

Archimedes - Merlyn's familiar in Disney's "The Sword and the Stone"

Owl - Pooh's wise friend in A.A. Milne's Pooh series. 

X the owl - Mr. Roger's neighborhood. 

Woodsy Owl - mascot for the US Forest Service.

1 - jettabug. 2&5 - TreeWings Studio. 3 &4 - Humblebeads. 

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are inspired by owls....
Jenny

Resources:
Native American owl mythology
Owl wiki
Tetradrachma at the Hermitage Museum
Great pix and Harry Potter references
Famous owls
Bloddeuwedd