Chickadees, titmouse, wrens, goldfinch, junco, doves and towhees flutter and scamper across the patio picking up seeds from the liquid amber trees. I watch them as I eat breakfast. With a rush of wings, they disappeared all together. I looked up. In a tree branch stood a red-shouldered hawk with its head swiveling back and forth, looking for prey. It spread its black and brown wings and soared down into the ivy on the other side of our garden wall and back up again without any morsel in its beak. The prey also used camouflage to fool the hawk.
The hawk was hard to see against the wet trunks of the liquid amber and sycamores around our yard. I tried to get a photo, but the bird disappeared into the branches. Can you see him? I was reminded of the PBS program Nature with its episodes about Super Cats. The multi-colored coats of the cats gave them perfect camouflage while hiding either in a canopy of plants or moving across grass or stone canyons.
Camouflage provided the subject for one of the short classes last Saturday at the annual Trival Pursuits (TP) art day put on by the Friends of Calligraphy. Each year the day is full of 6 classes of art play. The instructor, Alan Blackman, came dressed in head-to-toe camouflage. He was easy to spot among the rest of us in our plain attire. At TP, he explained that the British navy first used camouflage during WWI as a means to deter German U-Boats. The navy asked fine artists to develop patterns to hide or at least confuse the gunners on the German boats. They wanted the camouflage to disguise the ship's direction so that the gunners would aim for the wrong place before firing. Now with heat-seeking technology and other advances, other camouflage methods, such as a continuous blanket of fog around a ship, are being tested.
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| My modern version of what the British called Dazzle camouflage during WWI |
Camouflage is designed to interrupt our visual clues. When we look at an object, we look at the outline to determine what it is. If that outline merges with its surroundings, the object becomes difficult to discern, just like the hawk inside the tree branches.
Camouflage for the military disrupted the tradition of wearing bright uniforms in previous wars. Those uniforms and the men in them became easy targets for snipers on the modern battlefield. Camouflage fabric has moved beyond the military as Alan showed us in his own costume for the day.
During his class, Alan asked us to draw new versions of camouflage for both ships and fashion.
This morning I watch again as the hawk sails above the trees. He is still looking for prey, but he no longer is using the cover of our trees. Instead, he is a small dark spot in the sky.
Check out Alan Blackman's work, especially his Letters to Myself page:
To find out more about camouflage:
Such a beautiful image of the hawk, Martha! And I love the concept of art play. I get the most stuck when I'm trying too hard at a thing. 'Playing' is so much more enjoyable; and often more productive!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Teresa. The hawk was a wonder to watch. He visits our yard, but the crows often chase him away. Beautiful in flight. Thank you for reading my post again!
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