This project was first an idea over 20 years ago. I had always been fascinated with scarecrows and had thought it would be fun to make one. Then I read the Gunter Grass book The Dog Years which is about a 4 year old boy who starts to build scarecrows and continues as he grows older. From that point on I knew that I would make a series of scarecrows, but wasn't sure what form they would take. I wanted them to be original, seductive, intriguing and a bit eerie. Over the years I have given them much thought but never really hit on the right angle.

I even had a group of people in one of my figure drawing classes make them; I picked up many crutches and other odds and ends at Goodwill, chicken wire, plaster and other materials at the hardware store. Anything I found that I felt would inspire the group. There were some wonderful results and many original scarecrows seen in gardens that fall in Stonington. But I was no closer to my personal plan.

A few years ago we were in the English and Irish countryside and saw, these absolutely beautiful large nests in the trees. They were almost sculptures in themselves. They turned out to be raven's nests and the ravens were beautiful too. I loved to watch them flying against the sky and I loved the sounds they made. Returning to the states I started paying more attention to our ravens and crows, and of course started to rethink my scarecrow project. I found whatever books I could on these birds and discovered how clever and smart they are and how a scarecrow had never been developed that actually kept the birds away from crops for any prolonged period of time. Many different types had been tried around the world, even some with gunpowder, but eventually the crows figured out a way to get around them.

Suddenly a brainstorm hit me after 20 years: scarecrows should be "scary crows." ALPHA CROWS! So simple, I couldn't believe it. These are the reasons and hows of this project and of how it finally developed into what you are viewing today!

I plan to make a few more as sculptures but it took so long to complete the first one - 2-1/2 years from its conception - that I felt a need to celebrate the finished works thus far.

By the way, when I was about % of the way finished with the sculpture, this past summer, I put it in the backyard for a day to look at it from a distance, checking its proportions, etc. After having it outside for a day there wasn't a crow in our yard for weeks. Now, since I've returned it to the studio, occasionally a few crows reappear, but in nowhere near the numbers as before. I was feeding them everyday, they were my models! We had crows in abundance - now hardly any.

I think I may have developed a real SCARECROW! And the truth is I really don't want to scare the crows away, I want my models back!