Sacred Birds: Jesus Was a Cockatoo
March 29, 2016 2:10 PM   Subscribe

Artist and painting instructor Kelley Vandiver has reinvented cardinals, hummingbirds, blackbirds, bluebirds, chickens, and lots of parrots as religious figures in iconic paintings.

Highlights include a cockatoo as Christ in the Desert, a parrot as Delillah, another parrot as Satan in the Desert, Lazarus as a parrot and Jesus as a cockatoo, and the Christ Child cockatoo riding on the shoulders of St. Christopher the parrot.

Paintings and associated stories may not be Biblically accurate, but are fully delightful.
posted by littlewater (28 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
Oh my goodness, these are exquisite.
posted by redsparkler at 2:22 PM on March 29, 2016 [3 favorites]


Love the kestrel.
posted by rtha at 2:27 PM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


The Cardinal Cardinal is the best. I desperately need it on a t-shirt.
posted by Fizz at 2:36 PM on March 29, 2016 [3 favorites]


These are great and they all look like they should be XTC album covers.
posted by davebush at 2:41 PM on March 29, 2016 [7 favorites]


Needs John the Baptist with a mirrored-bottom little bathtub.
Also, Baby Jesus would be quite the sight.
posted by Kabanos at 2:45 PM on March 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Eve, with the figs leaves.
posted by helpthebear at 2:53 PM on March 29, 2016


I dunno about XTC album covers (although I see what you did there, and Andy Partridge was on the Radmac show this afternoon). Much more prog - in fact, none more prog.
posted by Devonian at 2:57 PM on March 29, 2016


eeee the cardinal cardinal's little crest is peeking out the top of his mitre.

I loooove these
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:01 PM on March 29, 2016


[cockatiel]
posted by aaronetc at 3:09 PM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh! I wonder if she and Ursula Vernon know each other's work--Vernon has done quite a few pieces like this, too, although their styles are rather different. And then of course there's Vernon's take on the inverse with her Cardinals in Winter.

I'm sort of delighted to see that there's not one but two minds out there who delight in birding, art, and also Catholic saints.
posted by sciatrix at 3:24 PM on March 29, 2016 [3 favorites]


I'd drink beer from this brewery any day.
posted by humboldt32 at 3:46 PM on March 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


There are more than a few folks out there who love the cardinal/cardinal pun, if my brother's One day I'm going to be the Pope! shirt is to be believed.

it helps that my extended family's surname is Cardinal

buncha pun-loving catholics, the lot of us

posted by The demon that lives in the air at 3:47 PM on March 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


I think Jesus is actually a cockatiel?
posted by Calzephyr at 3:50 PM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


Yes, exquisite and delightful. Thanks so much.
posted by benito.strauss at 3:51 PM on March 29, 2016


Calzephyr: "I think Jesus is actually a cockatiel?"

Indeed he is.

This is wonderful.
posted by Splunge at 4:09 PM on March 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Dr. Buzzard approves of your cockatiel messiah.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:25 PM on March 29, 2016 [5 favorites]


Very nice. But ravens and crows are obviously in league with the devil.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:34 PM on March 29, 2016


"What's so amazing about a cardinal in the bird feeder?"

Beautiful. Please oh please, Virgin of Guadalupe birb soon!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 4:36 PM on March 29, 2016 [5 favorites]


I'm also getting a Surrealist vibe, maybe Max Ernst.
posted by Caesar Moore at 4:57 PM on March 29, 2016


I think Jesus is actually a cockatiel?

And cockatiels are parrots, for that matter. Delilah is, specifically, a lovebird. Because of course.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:16 PM on March 29, 2016


Given the bird-focused nature of the series, I suppose Jeremiah doesn't qualify for a portrait?
posted by uosuaq at 5:17 PM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


This is soooo good.
posted by eclectist at 5:41 PM on March 29, 2016


Oh! I wonder if she and Ursula Vernon know each other's work-

also Elaine Savoie, who seems to stick mostly to roosters and chickens.
posted by philip-random at 6:26 PM on March 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Really lovely, a perfect set. These are renvisionings of classic paintings? I feel like I understand something now.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:50 PM on March 29, 2016


This was a really great find, thank you so much for posting. It was so nice to look at them on a big screen rather than my phone :D

I didn't mean to sound nitpicky about the difference between cockatiel and cockatoo :)
posted by Calzephyr at 4:49 AM on March 30, 2016


my bird-loving partner is a bit disappointed that the Hermit wasn't a hermit thrush.

more bird puns! bird puns for everyone!
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 8:06 AM on March 30, 2016 [3 favorites]


The thing on my shoulder is an angel, then? I wasn't sure. Mostly because the pooping. I still kind of have my doubts.
posted by Lou Stuells at 3:16 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]


No, it's not an angel, it's a monk. :)
posted by tobascodagama at 9:03 AM on March 31, 2016


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