McKenzie Fleeman
mdf001@marietta.edu
Julie Zickefoose, local writer, artist, and musician, gave a talk on her newest book, Baby Birds: An Artist Looks into the Nest at Marietta College on Thursday, Feb 11. Zickefoose’s love for art started at a very young age. She was inspired by a book called Indians and the Old West which her parents purchased for a mere fifty cents. Zickefoose also recalls admiring the book Pagoo by Clancy Holling which featured drawings in the margins in addition to the story.
“I knew that I wanted to do books with paintings and drawings in the margins,” Zickefoose said.
Zickefoose was also inspired by Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. The book focused on field sketches, and Zickefoose now has dozens of her own field sketchbooks because she wanted to emulate Holden.
“I saw the bells go off and observed that book through every pore,” Zickefoose said regarding Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.
In her twenties and thirties, Zickefoose would study and draw every dead bird she could find. This gave her the opportunity to do analogue figure drawings which meant drawing the animal in strange positions. Zickefoose painted these animals at 100% life size.
“Everything I paint has a paragraph with it because I can’t separate the need to tell the story from the need to paint,” Zickefoose said.
Zickefoose was asked to read a manuscript and give corrections along with some sketches. She recalls that there was more red ink than there was text in the manuscript when she was done. She also couldn’t grasp how the author of the book could get Burroughs Medal. This sparked an idea.
“Don’t complain, start writing your own stuff,” Zickefoose told herself.
In addition to writing and illustrating books, Zickefoose enjoys illustrating covers for breeding bird atlases.
Zickefoose is intimately acquainted with the eastern blue bird. She has been running nests for them around her property since 1991. She also provides them with bird baths and likes to cook for them in the winter.
“Birds are woven in the fabric of our lives,” Zickefoose said.
The boxes Zickefoose provides are protected from snakes and other predators. She has 25 boxes and takes her kids along to check the boxes. The boxes gave her the opportunity to do daily paintings of baby birds and observe their developmental process.
“When you stop and look in to bird nests and you get to know these birds, the most amazing stuff happens,” Zickefoose said.
People often worry that if Zickefoose touches the baby birds their mother will disown them. Zickefoose clarifies that this is a very useful old wives’ tale. Once a bird has laid eggs, incubated them and fed babies, it is hard for them to leave their nest. However, Zickefoose warns that you should have a specialized skill set and knowledge of baby birds before taking them out of their nest.
Zickefoose told the story of Cletus, Harper and Melba, three brown thrashers that were in her songbird rehab care in 2015. The birds were only eleven days old.
“I’m in love, it’s an amazing thing to be able to do, it’s a privilege really,” Zickefoose said with regards to watching birds age and develop.
Zickefoose put the birds in a nylon screen tent to protect them from the elements. The birds needed enrichment so she provided small toys for them to play with. The birds showed no aggression after they were released and Zickefoose quickly trained them to come back to a dish of food she held.
“I set up a feeding station with food and water and perches from the tent and would go out and feed them every morning,” Zickefoose said.
After Zickefoose released the birds, they all came back at some point, and she hopes to see them back this spring.
“There is a long period after birds leave the nest where they still need parenting,” Zickefoose said.
The audience at Marietta College thoroughly enjoyed the Baby Bird Talk. Michael Johnson, a freshman biochemistry major, says he would be eagerly waiting if Zickefoose were to give another talk at Marietta College.
“I was there acquiring extra credit, however, listening to her discuss her experience with these animals, how she captures their morphology through art, and how she began her intimate respect for these animals really opened my eyes to biological aspect of the world we live in,” Johnson said.
Lindsey Eckstein, a junior health science major, also enjoyed the talk.
“Her lifetime interests culminated into this amazing book and that was seen in the way she talked about the project,” she said. “She connects with the birds as seen in her rescue of the Brown Thrashers. Her talk was not about the book but the process; she appeared to enjoy the journey just as much if not more than the publication of the book.”
Zickefoose has a message for young aspiring artists.
“If anybody here likes to draw or study things, go straight for the living creature and maybe someday you will be moved to do a book too,” she said.
To see more of Zickefoose’s work, click here: http://www.juliezickefoose.com/index.php
