One for sorrow, two for joy! Love them or hate them, Magpies are deeply embedded in our folklore as the most recognisable of British birds!
I totally believed they were fortune-setters when I was a child. I think we all had a relative who wouldn’t leave the house or would change direction when magpies were spotted just to avoid that sorrow. I would wait until I saw another one before I said the rhyme, hoping to cancel out any bad luck. I was always told they stole shiny things but I haven’t ever actually seen that in real life, have you?
So, I love magpies. I usually have a magpie family in my neighbourhood at the end of spring, and I love to see what caring parents they are. This bird art piece is inspired by the pair who hang-out on the large church roof opposite my studio window. I love their iridescence, the blue and greens that flash in the sunlight. I made them especially to be together in March this year, 2026. I wanted to gift someone joy and delight in seeing these two together.
Last year I wished for a magpie tail feather and spent a lot of time searching the ground for one – then one morning there one was on my doorstep, a shiny treasure freely given. The challenge is capturing that iridescence in fibre, which I hope to have done in the individual flight feathers on these two beautiful tiny needle felt birds.
They sit on mossy Dartmoor wood and would look fitting on a north facing window sill away from any drafts that might make them tumble (they are small and light). Having some sunlight to light up that green and blue shimmer would be ideal. I keep them on a tiny wooden shelf in my kitchen, next to some blue glass bottles with cuttings in them and a larger piece with tiny choughs. They show off their shape and tiny size perfectly.
These two tiny magpies would delight a bird lover, a lover of nature and someone superstitious who would see them as truly a symbol of joy, as do I.
Dimensions: wood with magpies approximately 10cms long, 7.5cms tall, 6cms wide & magpies alone 6cms long, 3cms tall, 1.5cms wide
Materials: wool and plant fibres, wire, thread, glass
A fibre bird art piece which is for adult collectors to treasure for a life-time.
