bird woman, a case history

She appeared in my drawings after I lived in Venice (2005). The Plague Doctor is a clear relation. One very rainy night during my first year in England I made the mask. And then, when I needed to sneak around, or startle birds, or be generally wilder than my normal situation allowed, she would come out.

She is very weird. She is fearless. She will come into your garden with a large pair of shears and steal your best rose. She has truck with Papa Lazarou. She has a camera. She disappears. She stares immoderately. Her umbrella is waterproof. Suddenly she is next to you.