"Into the Night"
"Embodied silence, velvet soft, the owl slips through the night.
With Wisdom's eyes, Athena's bird turns darkness into light."
-Joel Peters, "The Birds of Wisdom"
Journeying in the Dark
This series was born from a Plutonian tendency for spelunking the caves and trenches of our collective psyches...and my way of tending to the dark and ghoulish places and themes we'd prefer to avoid. Carpe Noctum, or "seize the night," is both a battle cry and a nod to night raptors (raptor comes from the Latin rapere, to seize)--encouraging us to embrace the darkness and mystery within and without. To take back the night in this post-industrial age where most of us never have to switch to night vision or experience true darkness--the darkness we need to thrive.
Astronomer Paul Bogard says in his book The End of Night, "I remember Pierre Brunet arguing in Paris that the presence of an astronomer was the sign of a healthy ecosystem; that when the sky grows too bright for astronomy, and the astronomers go away, you know you have a light-polluted sky, and whatever has polluted that sky will eventually pollute other resources, given time."
He points out that more than 60% of invertebrates and 30% of vertebrates are nocturnal, having evolved to find food and mates in uninterrupted darkness. But who are the masters of night, the magisterial beings who have been, like the dark, feared and revered across the ages while evolved to thrive in the dark?
Owls.
I set out to journey with the owls, getting to know their natural history, mythopoetic identities, and ecological biomechanics. It was clear they have captivated human attention since our ancestors lived in caves. One of the earliest depictions was found in 1994 in a French cave dating back 30,000 years. Owls have been associated with witchcraft, medicine, wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, protection, birth and death, and as spiritual messengers for millennia.
As science and technology have demystified owls' lives and patterns, there is no question of their enduring impact and connection to something esoteric. They literally, and perhaps metaphorically, see things we do not.
Reflecting on the night often brings up a complex mix of emotions. Darkness can evoke feelings of both serenity and profound fear, with the "fear of night" often stemming from the unknown, the lack of visual clarity, and the heightened sense of vulnerability it can bring. But the night offers quiet stillness of deep thought and deep dreams, away from the bright lights and noise of day.
And, as these are our feathered elders, they offer their medicine to us in the ways they move in the world--if we can get quiet, listen, and pay attention.
In learning about owls' biomechanics and individual stories, the lessons they offer began to come to light. Owls are one of the most successful birds on earth, evolutionarily speaking. They're found on every continent except Antarctica and in every habitat. Though over 200 varieties currently exist globally, they all share common characteristics:
- Forward-facing, extremely large tubular eyes with full pupillary dilation and huge reflective retinas
- Curved beaks
- Sharp, powerful talons
- Facial discs that act like acoustic satellite dishes to hunt by sound
- Soft wings with serrated edges for silent flight
What can they teach us? Discerning sight. Attention to detail. Deep listening, especially in quietude. Gathering information or a new perspective. Adaptability (it's okay to be irruptive). Power. Taking wise action. Knowledge versus wisdom. Even stealth.
So although owls have been feared by some or seen as carrying bad omens, they do impart the wisdom of widening our gaze, seeing through illusions to the truth, and maintaining sovereignty.
"To those who know owls to be something more
than ordinary birds
if something less than gods,
deserving our respect and love"
-anonymous
Story Behind the Process
As with all my series work, substantial research was involved. I gather series-specific information in the initial, quiet stage before canvas work begins. With this series, I gathered several books, read many articles, and even took the 'Wonderful World of Owls' course with Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
The color palette I chose reflected the night, dusk and dawn, when owls are most active.
This series stretched my drawing skills and focus: these are the largest drawings I've ever done on canvas. I worked steadily to complete each one and included elements from their respective habitats. I drew a lot at home as I work in spurts between family obligations.
A significant shift was also the desire to visually deepen the work with videography. I wanted folks to feel the energy of this series. To see what an owl might see. I took a work-in-progress and an easel out to south Fargo and drew some gnarly tree branches with Long-Eared owl. It was a beautiful, clear night; with the full moon rising, I put on my headlamp and kept drawing. A big thanks to Nick Deraney of True North Media for capturing this.
These North American owls have left their mark on my heart--and I hope they do the same for you, if they haven't already.
“There is not enough night left for us. We have lost our true instincts for darkness, it’s invitation to spend some time in the proximity of our dreams. Our personal winters are so often accompanied by insomnia: perhaps we’re drawn towards that unique space of intimacy and contemplation, darkness and silence, without really knowing what we’re seeking. Perhaps, after all, we are being urged towards our own comfort."
-Katherine May in "Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times"
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