Shovel Head Bird Feeders

This video features the latest of my shovel head bird feeder sculptures.  Last year as I was getting set up for my show at Kiwi Gardens Laura said, "Why don't you bring your bird feeder?".

I replied, "This is my feeder... I've been feeding the birds for the past two years, and I've never really considered selling it."

She said, "I'm sure many people would like it."

She was right. I sold the feeder the first hour of the show, took commissions for two others, and later in the summer, took a commission to make another one. Had I have brought five, I would have sold all five.  Having said that, I now have five bird feeders to go to the next show.

Over the past week or so as I was building some new feeders I was blessed with many birds coming to the feeder.

Such a simple concept. Take some shovels, weld them to a post, and voila, you have a feeder. It's more than that though. Not only are these functional, they have artistic merit.

I think of a farmers wife saying to her husband, "John... could you make me some kind of bird feeder?"

Instead of going to town and buying some fancy smancy feeder he goes to the shop and notices five or six broken shovels lying there in the corner. He thinks to himself, if I only weld these to a post then I have a feeder. So that's precisely what he does. He brings this up to the house and says to his wife, with a big grin on his face, "there you go darlin', your new bird feeder."

That's my story on how I came upon making these feeders. Sometimes you have a need and then you come up with a way to that meet that which you need.

Functional Art