I got inspired in the small shop of a woodturner in a very pittoresque village in Zeeland, on the most southern part of the North Sea coast. This is where I saw the ‘mood bird’ for the first time. I thought his birds had something elegant to them. But it was later that my appreciation for the object got encouraged beyond my imagination. There are two reasons for this: the memory of an experience I had with a wild owl and the actual intended purpose of the object.

The encounter

Some years ago I went on a Trekking holiday to the northern most regions of Norway, walking through the forest and mountains for weeks without much interaction with the living world. Imagine being alone, surrounded by nothing but nature, the sound of the wind through the trees, the sun just set and I finished putting up my tent. I took my small fuel stove out, which was even hard to light in the cold night’s winter air. It was around -20 degrees Celsius around that time, so I heated some water to drink and ate some dry food I brought. The night’s air was freezing and hurting my lips while I was breathing, but I couldn’t go into my tent and miss this beautiful night sky. I was in a small valley surrounded by mountain tops around me, I stared into the nights sky, millions of stars and even our own galaxy (the Milky Way) was clearly visible… Until there was a dark shadow that passed the milky way. In disbelieve, my eyes were locked on the shadow… It appeared to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger… ‘That can’t be anything up there, that has to be in our atmosphere’ I thought by myself.. It got closer and closer, all sounds went silent in my head, listening if I could hear anything coming from the shadow.. It seemed to get wider and wider. It came closer and closer.. I was scared, but curious. Than it got close enough for the little light from the cresent moon to show what it was. It was a huge Snow Owl. It flew right over me, it must have had a wingspan of at least 1,5 meters. I think if I would have held my hand up I could have touched it. But still… no sound. The owl flew to a tree close by and landed on a thin branch, without causing any movement in the tree. There we were, looking at each other. I don’t know how long it was that we spend together. It could have been an hour or five minutes, but the memory stays with me forever.

I have dreamed about and remembered the owl very often since than. And so the inspiration came to me that one day I will honor my friend the wild owl and make a statue of him.

The mood bird

A mood bird is not just a piece of art you put on a shelf. It is a beautifully crafted piece of communication technology. Yes, just like your smartphone. but than less high tech. These birds are originally used by people who have difficulties to express their emotions. People with Autism Spectrum Disorder for example could use it to communicate their mood today with the rest of the household, or a busy executive in the office could use it to communicate his need to be left to focus on their work, or maybe if they are open for disturbances by colleagues.

My vision for the Mood Owl

Whether you like the Mood Owl for it’s original purpose or you use it as a ‘my door is open’ sign, I believe the owl can bring some joy into your life as the real one did for me. My wife’s owl is called ‘Gil-bird’ (a playful version of the name Gilbert), almost everyday we move his head a little. It is a playful moment of the day that we both enjoy.

To me Gil-bird is a living statue, it doesn’t change but everyday it looks a little different. And, just like us, he has his moody days and his happy days

Shop

Feel free to explore the shop for mood owls.
You can also contact me or request a bespoke creation.