Birds in flight

My girl are still on winter break.  Driving home from a day-long playdate yesterday, we encountered a little traffic on a particular stretch of highway that overlooks downtown Minneapolis on one side and wide open space on the other.  The sun was just starting to set and the sky was luminous blue with an edge of pink and all of a sudden, dozens of birds took flight.

The girls stared out the window, and the three year old said quietly, "Mom, look!  A hundred million birds!"  And then they were quiet, unlike the "ooh, ahh, ooh, aah" that they produced for "Christmas houses" when we drove past them, lit up at night.

The birds were far enough away that they were abstracted shapes, just simplified outlines, and almost blurred at the edges.

I thought: I wish that was a wallpaper.

Then, looking at the current issue of House and home, I was reminded that it (almost) is.

(here)

This one doesn't quite capture the rhythm of the flock for me, but Jill Malek makes one that is somehow organic and geometric at the same time.  

(here)

We're thinking of putting it in a client's living room to introduce a sense of movement.

As always, the natural world is such great inspiration!

With the girls back at school next week, posts should come back on the early-morning schedule.