Sunday, November 29, 2009

I’d Rather Be on Bird Time

We’re heading to the airport in about an hour to pick up Emma. She left Maun in Botswana on Friday night and flew to the country’s capital, Gabarone. From Gabarone she flew to Johannesburg, from Johannesburg to London (an 11 hour flight) and right now she’s somewhere over North America heading on home. In all, Emma will have spent 22 hours in the sky over the last couple of days.
Somehow flying seems way more efficient if you’re a bird (or even a monarch butterfly). No need to worry about luggage restrictions, customs, airline strikes or missing your connection. Maybe one of these days we’ll have figured out teleportation and will be able to get from Toronto to Botswana in the twinkling of an eye. On the other hand, I guess the longer it takes the more aware you are that the world is a very big and very varied place. All this ruminating about flying makes me think about I’d Rather Be on Bird Time—a mixed media canvas I did a couple of months ago. I didn’t name it until I’d finished because I really didn’t know what I was doing with it up until the moment when I added the birds. But somehow I think my birds appreciate the unpredictability of it all.

3 comments:

Irene said...

A lovely design, I like the idea of being a bird too.

azirca said...

Bird time sounds pretty good to me, such a fitting name for this piece too.

Hope that your daughter isn't too jet lagged.

Ganga Fondan said...

Great piece!!!!
I love love love birds especially for their flight of song. This piece reminds me of time's containment in the here and now. Brings it to a standstill to be observed and felt and remembered. Have an awesome week.