Tyler Ury
I had a very hard time trying to find something to write about. I looked at pictures on the internet but I did not feel any type of real connection to them. I thought a lot about what I could do it about that would get me excited. Almost like an epiphany I realized what I should do. This piece of art is called “feather shield”, it is a tradition from the Native American Indian men to get or make a shield to represent their transition into manhood. Though I did not make this, the best artist that I know of made this for me. It is made out of goose, golden flicker, and one unknown feather. Every feather that you see was collected by myself. And the wonderful artist that made this for me is Jerrita Lake, my Aunt. The feathers are attached to a piece of drift wood, and made to look like wings. The whole thing is tied to a piece of deer hide. It is so beautifully done that it looks so natural, which shows the skill of the artist. Why do I think this is art? Well for one it is beautifully done and anything of this caliber is art to me. And secondly it really speaks to me. It reminds me of my past and where I came from. But not only that, it shows me of the future and what I can become. Every time I look at it I am reminded of what I went through and of my Aunt. If that does not make it Art then I really do not know what art is. The feather shield is so important to me that I have it hanging in my dorm room. I also have another piece done from her but I will not get into that yet. Even if it did not remind me of so many things the skill that went into making it is an Art in it of itself. I doubt many people on this earth could make such amazing feather art like my Aunt does. It is such an amazing skill that it could only be called an Art!
NOTE: No birds were harmed in any of her works of art!
Hi Tyler,
ReplyDeleteI thought your presentation was great. I think it's amazing that she does this!! I don't know how she finds all the feathers. Anyways, I do think this is art definitely. To put this much time and effort into creating a masterpiece with feathers is truly spectacular. Thanks for sharing this with our class!
-Rachel Dowd
im glad you liked it. i really dont know how she got so many of the feathers. she said that all these feathers were picked up off the ground after molting/flying into window/or hawk attack. and to everyone i put the "door" and the "Pegasus wings" pics up on the blog as well i hope you all enjoy them
ReplyDeleteTyler,
ReplyDeleteEven though, like you said, I don't have a personal emotional connection to these creations as you do, I still have an emotional reaction when looking at them and do consider them art.I think this "feather art" is beautiful and skillfully made and I love the idea of people finding these feathers everywhere, something that would normally just have been looked over and forgotten, and having them be turned into something so creative. One of my favorite ones, besides your sheild, was the butterfly because of the bright blue feathers--I can't imagine what it must look like in person. I loved your presentation, thanks for sharing this and introducing me to an artform I had never heard of before!
Liz
This was not a very interesting post because not only did it have vibrant pieces of hand made art, it was done by your mother. I can only imagine how much time it took to gather the feathers and put them all together, especially the giant peacock one. This is probably my favorite post so far, besides mine of course.
ReplyDelete-Keith
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your presentation. These pieces that were hand made were so beautiful and although I am not supposed to have a personal connection, but my family is part native american and my mom is very spriritual. These definitely gave me an idea as to a cultural background and made me think wow I cant believe people actually put that much time in it. you did a great job of making us interested by showing us those pictures. My favorite was the blue feathers aka the butterfly!
-Cassie :)
Tyler, you did a great job presenting this beautiful art form. I'm glad you showed us such a variety of the unique pieces she has made. This is such an inspirational and spiritually important demonstration of art. In addition to you and Cassie, my family, especially my mom, is quite spiritual so I found it really remarkable and enjoyable as a whole. Thanks so much for presenting such personal and interesting pieces of Native American artwork! :)
ReplyDeletethanks guys it means a lot that you like it. as i said before the pictures cant even begin to get all the detail that they contain. u cant even see some of the beads or the couple of feathers that are hanging on mine. if anyone wants to get a closer look i can show you them. they really are Art form that takes you breath away when you see them up close and in person.
ReplyDeleteTyler, nice work. I absolutely think that your grandmothers work is art. Her pieces are unique and i have never seen anything like them before. I think that it is art for a few reasons. First the time that had to spent building these must have been pretty long. Secondly the creativity is amazing. The class was surprised of this when you put the pictures were up, the photos got the oooos and aaaas. I think these are an interesting art form.
ReplyDeleteTyler,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I liked that you chose something that you personally have and have a connection to. Like most other posts that were done of art we have seen before or heard of, you took something that was made especially for you with so much meaning behind it. The artwork is phenomenal, and I can't even begin to imagine all the work that goes into these pieces (first finding all the feathers, then assembling them and connecting them as one). Your aunt did a great job on these and the blue/pink feathered "Butterfly" was my favorite. Nice work :)
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that what you presented to the class is art. The way your grandmother puts the natural materials is extremely creative and pretty. I like that you presented something that had a personal meaning, and understood that others may have different points of view without that connection. Fun stuff.
This actually meant something to me as well since I'm part Cherokee. I was amazed by what you showed us in class and how they were made. It would be so awesome to see all those in person, since the pictures just can't capture everything. Yours was definitely one of my favorites.
ReplyDelete