Friday, October 9, 2026

Owls and Quails

 

During our visits to the Sonoma Botanical Garden (here and here) we came upon these owl and quail sculptures before entering the shady part of the garden. They were part of the 2025 "Winged Wonders" exhibition. The sculptures are made from split and solid bamboo by Boston-based artist duo The Myth Makers, Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein. The Winged Wonders sculptures represent native birds found in the garden. Unfortunately I didn't see the exhibition back then, but I was glad that the owls and quails remain at the garden.


These owl and quail sculptures are 20 feet tall and tower over you - it's quite impressive. The following picture was taken from inside one of the owls.

The quail sculptures used to sit at the edge of the vineyard during the exhibition. Now they live in the shade of old oaks. 


After all, it is our state bird, so it should feel quite at home here.

And the owls do have their very own home.

These are my - owlish - faces for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

If you're interested in seeing more of these Winged Wonders birds (there are some really beautiful ones), just follow this link. 





20 comments:

Tom said...

Carola, I love the work by The Myth Makers and their Name. I will check them out. Thanks for letting me tag along to see the sights. Take care and be well.

DVArtist said...

Wow! This post took my breath away. These are absolutely stunning. The work that went into these is one of love. There is so many wonders at the Sonoma Botanical Garden. Thank you for sharing with FFO and have a wonderful weekend.

The Rev. Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

These bird sculptures are magnificent! It must be awesome to be able to interact with them, as walk through them. Peace, my friend!

Christine said...

Lovely pieces!

Lowcarb team member said...

Those owl and quail sculptures look amazing.

All the best Jan

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Oh, I LOVE these!

Michelle said...

These are gorgeous!

Lisca said...

Oh those sculptures are beautiful! And so big! It's great they seem to have a permanent place.
I also like the owl house. Did you find out of there was a resident owl in that house?
Enjoy your weekend,
Lisca

Lorrie said...

Those are wonderful owl and quail sculptures. Their scale is very grand.

Linda's Relaxing Lair said...

These are beautiful, dear Carola. ❤️

Tampereen Mummu said...

Wonderful works of art and nice to have them in nature like owls.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Now if they were real owls and quails, Carola, the owls would probably be dining on a steady diet of quail! Maybe they have a tiny kitchen in their house where they make quail confit. Huge hugs - David

My name is Erika. said...

Sorry I'm a day late stopping by Carola, but I'm glad I did because these owls and quails are amazing. I especially like your photo looking through the 2 owl eyes. That's a very cool view. I think I might have seen some sculpture from these 2 at a sculpture park in eastern New York State. I'm trying to remember exactly what it was- but I think it was a round building. I'm going to o have to go look it up. Have a wonderful weekend. hugs-Erika

Coastal Ripples said...

Wonderful art works. They remind me of our Whicker puffins which are of a similar size and are situated on national trust land on the north coast. We have a very small colony of puffins there which we hope in time will increase. B x

Jeanie said...

Those owl sculptures are so well done and really intriguing. I wonder who thought of these.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Those owls and quails were impressive and a good way to use bamboo. The artists did a fantastic job. Happy slightly late FFO.

Barwitzki said...

How wonderful that you were able to see the installations. They are beautiful. I love their translucency and the fact that you can walk through them.
Thanks for the link.
Wishing you a happy Sunday and sending you warm regards.
Viola

Neuer Gartentraum said...

Die Skulpturen sind sehr schön und auf Grund ihrer Größe auch wirklich beeindruckend. Gut, dass sie nach der Beendigung der Ausstellung einen festen Platz gefunden haben.
viele Grüße Anette

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

What quirky and unusual sculptures, Carola, and even more fun to walk among and under them to take photos!

Teresa said...

Me ha encantado tu reportaje Carola. Muchos besos.