The Owls of Bath

I wrote earlier this month, about hunting for Minerva's Owls in Bath. The Art Trail ended on 10th September, but this weekend all of the owls were on display together, at the Bath Recreation ground, before being auctioned, for charity, in a couple of weeks time (except for the smaller owls (owlets) created with local schools, which will mostly be returning to  the schools involved)

There were originally 82 owls, with 2 extra ones added for the weekend.

Vincent Van Owl

Some of the owls were influenced by famous artists and artworks  (there was a Frida Owlo, as well as the Van Gogh / Starry Night owl), and one named 'Magritte, ceci n'est pas un owl',as well as Inkie Hoots , created by 'Inkie' , a famous local graffiti artist.

Patch

Some were inspired by local heroes, such as 'Patch', remembering the late Harry Patch, (the last surviving combat soldier of WW1, who was born just outside Bath, and died in Wells.) The owl was decorated by children from Combe Down primary school, which Harry Patch attended.

 There was also a HershOwl, recalling William and Caroline Hershel, musicians and astronomers, who lived in Bath in the late 18th C.

Octavius

Bath's Roman heritage was also represented. I found Octavian, with his mosaic  plumage, particularly appealing,  although there were a few others which also had some mosaic elements, and of course Brian, the Monty Python inspired owl ('grafitti'd' with "Romani ite domum" (Romans go home) was there. 

Cosmos

There were a number of Space related owls. Cosmos made me smile, but there was also Seemore, who had telescopes in his eyes and constellations painted on his body, and Cosmic Allen, which had a starscape across his plumage. 

Nor was Seemore the only interactive owl - there was another, Bird of Play, which at first glance seemed a bit dull, being plain black, but who featured a teleidoscope in one eye..

As a booklover, J.K Owling appealed to me a lot, and there were others with literary inspiration - Glimfeather, as well as being named after Lewis's Narnian Owl, has quotes and illustrations from various children's books on his plumage,  and the Festivowl celebrates the Bath Kids Literature Festival.

It is impossible to pick just one favourite owl,. I still really like the Sea Owl, which I 'found' on my original hunt, as well as at the weekend gathering.

Another lovely one was Tyrell, apparently intended as a replicant owl inspired by  'Blade Runner'

Tyrell

While I didn't think it was the most attractive, I also very much enjoyed the wealth of detail on Isambird Kingdom Brunowl...

Actually, I tell a lie. I did have a favourite. Her name is Pippa, and she was much smaller, more feathery and more mobile than the rest!

(She is a Little Owl, and was there along with a Tawny Owl and an Eagle Owl, and their handlers, a little way from the bustle and noise of the main event.)

I have a Flickr set, here, of all of the owls, and  the the Minerva's Owls website, which is at  https://minervasowls.org/owls/  has full detail of all the artists and owls.