paintings
Bird Party Artist Statement 2015
Welcome to the Bird Party. All are invited, please do come join us!
Sit for a cup of tea along with the slugs and crows of Stephanie Tichenor's backyard.
For the Bird Party, the local creatures were invited to an elaborate gathering. Tichenor crafted tiny handmade tea cakes from
organic millet and seed butter and served them on vintage tableware (her late grandfather's) and sparkling glass cake plates. Tichenor
expected the local crows to be in attendance, Seattle is known for it's crows, but had some surprises as well. In addition to the crows there
were many slugs, "#notamouse" otherwise known as a rat, and one lone squirrel. The parties, as gatherings often are, were filmed and
used for source material for her large scale Bird Party painting.
As the parties grew, more and more visitors attended and the crows came to expect their daily tea party. Inspired
by the success, Tichenor longed to attend the Bird Parties but knew the critters wouldn't attend with humans about. Her yearning for the
interaction with the creatures resulted in an 5 by 10 foot painting where she included herself in the festivities. In this selfportrait
she attends
and acts as hostess dressed complete with party attire and apron serving cakes and tea to her eager guests.
The project has produced varied mixed media work including a sewn portrait of a crow, tiny hand drawn/hand painted
invitations, and decorations, in addition to the teacakes and painting. The Bird Party Zine is an instruction manual to inspire you to throw
your own bird party. This includes a template for tiny party hats, recipes for bird food teacakes, and drawings.
Tichenor aims to continue work on the Bird Party please follow along on the tumblr (see below for link). Tichenor works in ink,
acrylic, textile, watercolor, photography and film.