BARN OWLS
January 2022
Barn owls are gorgeous creatures. I knew I wanted to paint an owl collection eventually. When it came time to paint, I decided to focus on barn owls. I love the shape and movement of their face feathers.
Many of the owl mugs have gold moons. This is to symbolize the fact that owls are nocturnal, and the moons give a sense of atmospheric perspective.
During the creation process I suffered a lot of heart ache. I broke many pieces, painted mugs, and many moon and sculpted owls stuck to my kiln shelves from glaze drips which caused cracks. All together I lost 8 mugs. It doesn’t seem like much to some, but I was devastated. But I did learn many things from my failures! This was the collection I started trimming foot rims, which raises the mug from the shelf a bit for glaze to stop running. Having foot rims made me realize I didn’t need to apply wax resist anymore and I can get a smooth sanded bottom without much effort. Ya win some and lose some!
Along with the owls and moons, I also started creating snowflake mugs because it was the start of winter in the north. Honestly, they kind of look like the star of David but I’m ok with that because it reaches a wider demographic.
I raffled an applique owl mug and donated 25% a barn owl box project which helps with safe natural breeding. Together we raised $176.
Facts about barn owls I learned while creating-
A barn owl’s diet consists of small critters - insects, birds, reptiles, rodents, and fish.
Owls have excellent hearing being able to catch prey in complete darkness or snow.
Barn owls have a wing spand of 39-49 inches and only weight a few pounds!
They have long legs covered in feathers which grow up to 16 inches long.
Barn owls’ nest in various places - trees, abandon buildings, chimneys, and sometimes the ground.
Breeding season for the bird is March to August. Mated pairs are monogamous. The courting is long before the female gives in while the male hunts for her. Successful pairs tend to the same nest for 20-30 years!
Barn owls lay 3-6 eggs per nesting season. Laid in April - May, the eggs hatch after 32-34 days.
Young barn owls can start to fly at 2 months old and become independent at 10 weeks.
Barn owls can catch up to 1,000 mice per nesting season.
Unlike hooting, barn owls produce many weird sounds from hissing to screeching.
Barn owls are widespread globally, but populations are declining due to hunting habitat loss. With no hunting grounds, means no food, no courting, no babies.
Barn owls are considered endangered in Canada.
A rare phenomenon in the animal kingdom - instead of males, female barn owls are prettier!
Studies show that heavily spotted females may be more resistant to parasites and disease.
Owls prefer their nesting areas to be near wetland or grasslands for the best hunting.