Playground for Wild Birds

Every day I feed hundreds of wild birds in the back lot of my art studio. These wild birds are the inspiration for my recent series of outdoor sculptures built with found objects and readily accessible materials. While living and working in isolation during the Covid lockdown, my interaction with wild birds helped me maintain a sense of peace and well-being. I have a long history of living with birds in my head and I continue to explore the possibilities.

(Please DM if you would like to visit my East Los Angeles studio to view these sculptures in person)

Bird Poem for the World 2021
i feed
wild birds
all day
every day
sparrows
doves
finches
scrub jays
watching wild birds
eating
playing
flying
makes me happy
a friend says
feeding wild birds
attracts good fortune
i say
bring it on
bitches

Charlottenburg 1991
My lover and I were sitting in a café late one night smoking cigarettes
We laughed when a prostitute threw a john over a small hedge
I was in Berlin trying to figure out my future my art my life
My lover taught me the German phrase “einen Vögel haben”
They said that women living with birds in their head are crazy
At that precise moment I knew that I would finance my art with sex work
I returned home to NYC with new paintings and birdseed in my suitcase

Excerpt From a Recent Grant Application (Describe the project for which you are seeking an award. Describe how your attached images relate to your proposed project.)

Every day I feed hundreds of wild birds in the parking lot of my art studio. These birds are the inspiration for my recent series of outdoor sculptures built with found objects and readily accessible materials. Throughout the pandemic I have been isolated, but when restrictions are lifted I will return to working in a shared ceramic studio. I will use the project funding to create a large-scale ceramic sculpture that will serve as a permanent outdoor monument to honor the wild birds I love. 

These images are sculptures I built in 2021 inspired by my experiences feeding wild birds in the parking lot of my art studio during the Covid-19 lockdown. While I was in living and working in isolation, my interaction with the wild birds helped me maintain a sense of peace and well-being. In September 2021 the shared ceramic studio where I had been building sculptures prior to the pandemic will reopen. I plan to create a new large-scale high-fired outdoor ceramic sculpture based on these works. 

Catproof Birdfeeder No 1. (Jubilation); 2021; 86 x 55 x 40 inches; wood, palm stalks, aluminum, chains, hardware, barbed wire, birdseed
Catproof Birdfeeder No 2. (Elation); 2021; 72 x 72 x 24 inches; wood, tree branches, steel, latex paint, chains, hardware, birdseed
 Catproof Birdfeeder No 3. (Redemption); 2021; 69 x 32 x 32 inches; aluminum, steel, plastic, rubber tubing, bricks, birdseed 
Fat Bird for Franz West; 2021; 77 x 40 x 34 inches; wood, fabric, plastic, cement, latex paint, hardware, casters
Bird Poem for the World; 2021; 48 x 20 x 16 inches; cement, foam wood, latex paint 

Love Poem For Clay



Hello old friend (first love)
You saved me from my troubled teenage year
Then you stopped speaking to me
When I was challenged (at war)
With the toxic masculinity
I encountered as a student in the Midwest

Later in life you (my friend) came back to me
When I was struggling with grief
With the loss of intimacy and love
Your warmth reconnected me to the earth
Your soft touch healed fresh wounds

Today we are separated again
This time by a global pandemic
But this is not forever I long for the day
When we can be together again

maybe possibly perhaps drawing series 2021

This unique acrylic paint on acid-free paper drawing is one in a series of twenty, inspired by the five-hundred dollars I owe the LADWP (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power) in past due utility bills and my frustration with Microsoft Office 365 Outlook email advising me “that words expressing uncertainty lessen your impact” each time I compose an email containing the words maybe, possibly or perhaps.

I am selling the drawings in this series at a discounted price to raise money to pay my past-due LADWP balance. When I sell all twenty drawings in this series I will have enough money to pay my debt to the LADWP.

As for my relationship with Microsoft Office 365? … It’s complicated.

This drawing was made in 2021 and is signed and dated on the back.

Purchase this drawing here

I Talk to You

I Talk to You: Performance for Sale in My Etsy Shop

This artwork is called “I Talk to You” and it is a performance piece. In the performance I talk to you and you talk to me if you want, or I can just talk to you. You don’t have to talk unless you want to. You can tell me about your life. I can tell you about my life. We can talk about poetry. We can talk about the weather. We can talk about pets. We can talk about friends. We can talk about food. We can talk about social justice. We can talk about anything that does not violate the Etsy terms of service. After the performance I will write you a note on the back of this unique 4” x 6” ink (“I Talk to You”) drawing, sign it, date it, and mail it to you in an envelope.

The price for this performance artwork is $50 for a 20-minute performance. When I receive the purchase confirmation email I will respond to schedule a date and time for the performance. You can choose an audio or video performance-whatever you prefer. Thank you so much for your interest in Margie Schnibbe Bad At Crafts. I look forward to talking to you!