Owls and the Edwardian Country Lady

As far as I know Edith only mentions owls once in her 1908 diary. Her June 8 entry says ...

I saw an Owl tonight, flying across the gardens at the back of the St. Bernard's Road. This is the first I have seen at Olton.

I didn't see any live owls while at Birmingham but there were some, painted by school children, at Birmingham Airport.  I photographed these at the end of August, 2015.

 

The Birmingham Mail says that these are just a few of the 120 "Owlets" painted by school children and displayed round the city.

 

These owlets were part "Big Hoot" in which larger owls were also displayed in various locations. They have now been sold but the Birmingham Mail has tracked some of them down.

The Nights Watch.



The board by the Nights Watch owl by Tudor Grange Academy, Solihull, said:

"The Nights Watch owlet features a montage of designs created by students at the academy. It reflects the work of Van Gogh and Mondrian and incorporates surrealism, with a night-time theme reflecting the owls' nocturnal activity. The cogs and mechanical aspects represent Birmingham's historical and industrial links, with the feather element taking it back to nature."

During Van Gogh's lifetime, he was considered a failure. He died in 1890. Wikipedia tells us

"In Paris in 1901 a large Van Gogh retrospective was held at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery", which inspired the Fauves and that "Van Gogh's fame reached its first peak in Austria and Germany before World War I"

In 1908 Mondrian, like Edith, was creating art firmly rooted in Nature. Later, he moved into abstract and cubism.

 

I love the way the children's work had been displayed where everyone can see it and I think Edith, who was a teacher, would have appreciated it too.