the flock {part 1.}

it's been long in coming but the post i had in mind to introduce this project just requires more time than i have right now. i want to photograph and document each and every bird that i have received, give them their own place of honor, write a few word about receiving it, etc. but today is not that day. yet i am long overdue in presenting the contributors with some sort of reward for all their individual colors so today can be that day.

but i'm getting ahead of myself. let me put this all into perspective for the rest of you.

last october, for my 28th birthday, i sent out the following letter to 50 people around the world:


hello my far away friends,

in preparation for my 28th birthday, i asked myself who i would want to have at the perfect birthday party & each of you came up in my mind. captivated by this desire to include you all in some way, i constructed a project for my local friends when we gather on november 6th to celebrate & i’m hoping you’ll contribute.

in the enclosed envelope you’ll find a small wooden bird. the directions are simple: color it on both sides & send it back to me.

you can paint it. you can paste little pieces of magazine images on it. you can cover it in wax. you can use a sharpie, pencil or pen but just pick ONE color {it can vary a little but make sure it’s predominantly one color & that it’s the same color on both sides—yes, i know it’s a different texture, just do your best}.

color is an important dimension of life for me, not only as an artist, wordsmith & dreamer, but as someone who lives & breathes through the connections i have collected over the years. a few of you i have never met in person, others only once {probably at a radiohead concert} & many i haven’t seen in years; yet all of you have provided me with some of the most visceral colors to carry me forward & now i’m asking you to do so yet again. so give me the color you see me as, give me the color you come to me as, give me the color you would hope for me or just give me a color that’s true.

thank you so very much for playing. i hope to be in the same city as you sometime soon, whatever the country, continent or hemisphere.

till then, yours in full color,

nathania tenwolde

p.s. there is a bit of card in the return envelope. please send it back with the bird to help protect it on its way home, but also feel free to jot a note to me on it. perhaps an explanation of the color you chose, or a random thought or message. all words are welcome. ~nat

p.p.s. my impatience is legendary, so please return it to me as soon as you can so i can start arranging the flock. ~n

between the party i held here and the teal envelopes, this is what i received: