My owls have been well-received and popular.  I’ve completed a new owl sculpture, which joins my parliament as Owl Rising II.

This horned owl is emerging from a striated block of micaceous quartzite, about 4 ft (1.2 m) square by 3 ft (1 m) high.

Banking in flight, the right wing will double as a bench.  The left wing, layered in blues and gray, captures the movement of air and cloud passing over its surface.

You can follow the progress of this work on the Works in Progress (owls) page.

The horned owl gets its name from two prominent feathered tufts on the top of its head.  These are often mistaken for ears — the ears are actually slits hidden under feathers on the sides of the head.  The wings are broad and rounded in flight.  This owl can be found year round throughout North America.  Their color varies regionally from sooty to pale.  A nocturnal bird, you may see them at dusk sitting on fence posts or tree limbs at the edges of open areas, or flying across roads or fields with stiff, deep beats of their wings.  A powerful predator, it can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but also dines on tiny scorpions, mice and frogs.  It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics.  Their call is a deep, stuttering series of four to five hoots.

Additional information on the horned owl, including sound and video, is available here.