PHOTOGRAPH

Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major)

Found throughout Florida, the Boat-tailed Grackle, as opposed to its cousin the Common Grackle, is almost solely found in coastal areas up and down the East Coast. You know when you see a male by their aptly named long tail, which they hold folded into a v-shape, like the keel of a boat. Much smaller in size and a dirty brown color, females look like an entirely different species.

Omnivores, Grackles eat nearly anything they can find including scavenging discarded human food scraps.

Very unique for birds, Boat-tailed Grackle mating is similar to that of deer and other large game. Called harem defense polygyny, females gather in colonies and males compete to mate with the entire colony. Research suggests, however; that many more males than the “winner” end up mating with the females when it is all said and done.

LOCATION

Winding Waters

One of my more recent finds, Winding Waters is a magical area where I consistently see animals that I rarely see in other wildlife refuges and nature areas that I visit in Florida. I am always guaranteed to see a Limpkin, a bird I went always 20 years without seeing until finding Winding Waters. Kites and Eagles flourish here too and a couple dozen other species are found in a single walk through the preserve. It is located between Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach, FL, and actually sits on the backside of one of the well known Florida “mountains.” Yes that would be a dump. However, it is far more breathtaking and enjoyable than that might lead one to believe. It also might be a reason that fewer people go to this nature area than many others and thus why there is so much unique life existing there.

FRAME

Cuban Mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni)

Cuban Mahogany is one of three species of Mahogany and it was originally the most widely used of the three. Nowadays, Honduran Mahogany is the much more prevalent wood and what most people would recognize as Mahogany. Native to the Carribbean, Cuban Mahogany’s northernmost range does include the far south of Florida, including the Keys. I happen to get all of my Cuban mahogany from a salvager in the Keys who removes the trees from construction sites before cutting it into slabs and drying it.

THE ELEMENTS

Fire, Water, Earth, and Air

In the display case in the bottom of the frame, four items are preserved glass vials. The items represent the elements: fire (wood charcoal), water (mineral oil), earth (soil), and air (a milkweed seed). I include these items in my work as a symbol of the interconnectedness of all life on earth, and as a reminder that humans must do better.

The Plaque

I engrave a wooden information plaque for each work. The plaque includes what the photograph is of, the location of the photograph, what type of wood the frame is made of and where I got the wood from. The plaques also explain what the vials are in each display case, and even state the meaning of my logo. The plaques are attached magnetically and can be removed to read or to store on the back of each frame if you prefer not to have it displayed on the front.