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Friday, October 15, 2010

"Spooky"

I was in the woods once, walking towards a barn at night, and an owl flew right over my head into the open hayloft. Absolutely silent. If that's not awesome and spooky, I don't know what is. I don't care if I understand an owl's feathers have a special fringed edge to muffle sound. It's freaky when a large bird silently swoops over your head at night.

There are a lot of spooky things at night. The house can creak and groan when it settles, we can't see into the dark, and our imaginations can start running wild with wonderings about what is just outside of the light. It doesn't help when we actually experience things we can't explain or when other people tell us such things aren't possible. How can we be sure the things we "know" are really true?

There are two different worlds on Earth. There's the daytime animals and human activities, and when all of them go to bed, the others come creeping out. But humans still tend to circle the bonfire or eat at the brightly lit all-night restaurant, or work third shift under the factory's sodium lights. At heart, I think most of us are afraid of the dark.


The owl eyes are colored pencil on black construction paper. The bats are watercolor and pencil.

19 comments:

  1. What spooky eyes, so dramatic on black paper! Yes, things that go "bump," "creak," or "groan," in the night are unsettling! Your bats are beautifully done, too! I'd like to add a backyard bat encounter to your awesome, silent and spooky experiences- to have one come whooshing out of nowhere can make this girl's heart miss a beat (or two)! :o)

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  2. I think that our imaginations can just run wild at night as the darkness covers everything. As a little girl I was very afraid of the dark but I can honestly say that I now quite like it. Recently on holiday my husband and I went out walking in dark just to get a glimpse of the night sky without all the light pollution we have at home.It was magical and we even had some bats flying around!
    Great post Linda and your images are truely magically mysterious...I love them!
    Jane x

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  3. Wonderfully spooky.......I like both. The eyes are piercing and love the bats flying
    through the sky.

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  4. Thanks everybody!

    @Michelle, bats can make me jump too. And I don't believe it that they won't get caught in your hair. It happened to me once. Ewwww!

    @Jane, sometimes I enjoy looking at the stars too. Nothing like seeing the sky without the light pollution to make us feel like our troubles really aren't that significant in the universe!

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  5. Great owl eyes! Excellent!

    Please visit my new project
    http://charloarwin.blogspot.com/

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  6. Super job on the lighting with this...nice...

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  7. Thanks everyone! Sorry I can't return visits at the moment. I've had killer migraines lately, and staying off the computer as much as possible :( It helps to know there's such nice people out there though!

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  8. In the darkness we fear what we do not see, we fear what we imagine, and probably does not exist. And in the light of day we're afraid some people around us. Neither fear is good.
    The first is natural, and the latter should never have existed.

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  9. Oh, sorry. Very good your illustration!!!.

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  10. I'm staring at the owl and I can feel his stare boring into the back of my head! Wonderful works, Linda! :)

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  11. The owl was spooky all right!! Very spooky... And yes, I love sunshine...have a lovely day:)

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  12. Heisann!
    Missed your spooky last week.... and this illustrations remember me of the late evening we, my sons, the youngest girlfriend, my husband and I, were locked inside the garden just behind the opera in Sydney, and the big bats were waking up for the night. We could not find the way out.
    Fascinating thinking of what happened .... we were like actors in a horror movie ;:OD)
    We had to climbe over the high fence to get out!

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  13. LOL Glad you made it out alive Vilt!

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  14. Hey Linda, well your insightful comments and your insightful illustrations as always prove that the sum is more than the parts -(compliment) the reflections on the owls eyes really do the job.

    see you I am onblogaholidays

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