Icarus(not Listening), two versions 2013 and 2012

 First Version 2012  Icarus

Second Version 2013 Icarus(Not Listening)

ICARUS: The main story told about Icarus is his attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and the melting wax caused him to fall into the sea where he drowned.  Wikepida

In June of 2012, I finished Icarus.  Not long after that, I realized that his right arm was slightly shorter than his left, and I knew I would have to redo it.  The piece sat on the wall for the next six months, until it was requested for an exhibition.  I had little time to get the piece framed and make the repair, but I knew I had the weekend to correct and varnish it before I packed it to go out that Monday.  As I worked on taking off, and then replacing the arm and hand, something bothered me about the piece, something very low key, but there nonetheless.  The next thing I knew I was pulling out my "birds" folder and looking for small bird bodies to place on that left arm.  The perfect bird ended up being a Kingfisher I had photographed that had crashed into a window, then recovered and flown away.  He had been angry and annoyed, and had threatened me with his sharp beak when I came too close with my camera.  

I understood as I attached  the Kingfisher on Icarus's arm that he was trying to warn Icarus, and that Icarus wasn't having anything to do with it.  I loved that the bird was telling Icarus about the dangers of not being careful, having just crashed himself.  He understood the consequences of   recklessness and lack of attention, of what happens when you don't notice the world around you.