Exploring "bird" motion

A year or so ago I decided it was time to explore "bird" motion a bit more.  The first sculpture was a large piece with a slow, graceful motion. It went through several iterations as I played with the form of the bird carrying wheels but I was pleased with the efficiency of the form of the swooping "legs" or power levers. The only problem with the piece was that it was too large to be an edition sculpture. Sculptures look much smaller on the computer screen when I'm designing! 

I took this design and reduced it by about half. I had to modify the mechanism to make it work correctly but I liked the effect of the reduced size. The motion was quicker and more dynamic and I could pack the sculpture in box that would fit within normal UPS size requirements.

The first sculpture I named Eagle for its soaring motion. The second sculpture became Falcon because it had elements of the soaring motion combined with a quicker darting effect.

At about this same time I started working on another bird sculpture with an entirely new mechanism. The working title for this piece was Sparrow because I thought of it as a smaller piece with a more unpredictable motion. Sparrow ended up being the most challenging of the three designs. I almost gave up on it numerous times. It the end the name Sparrow didn't fit any longer and it became Journey.

Falcon and Journey are both on the web site and in my studio as edition sculptures. Eagle sold before I had a chance to show it on my web site.  Putting up photos is yet another item on my to-do list!