2023 SCVAS Silent Auction

This auction is being held in conjunction with 2023 Environmental Action Campaign. The art auction items were donated to SCVAS and all proceeds will go toward SCVAS's advocacy operations. For more information about the SCVAS Environmental Action Committee and its work, please visit
scvas.org/conservation-corner-posts

You can also read our campaign message here:
https://scvas.org/conservation-corner-posts/environmental-action-campaign-2023

Like last year, this year's auction items are original works of art donated by local artists.

JOHN MUIR LAWS:
Laws is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. Jack is a scientist, educator, and author, who helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. His work intersects science, art, and mindfulness. Trained as a wildlife biologist and an associate of the California Academy of Sciences, he observes the world with rigorous attention. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connections in all he sees. Attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but skills that grow with training and deliberate practice. As an educator and author, Jack teaches techniques and supports routines that develop these skills to make them a part of everyday life. https://johnmuirlaws.com

JACK COLE:
"I started carving 40 years ago. I didn’t know what kind of wood to use, and only used profiles from field guides. As a result the heads were too skinny. I eventually threw all those away. For several years I sold them for $100, and they financed a birding trip I took with a friend for 20 years. Then I began just giving them to friends, and even some people I never knew or met. I’ve mailed them around the country, and even to England. I got my basswood from Southern Lumber until it burned down. Now I have blocks mailed from a lumber yard near my hometown in upper Michigan. I began by just carving ducks native to North America, but soon added ducks, loons, grebes, swans and geese from around the world. The only tools I use are a band saw, an X-Axto knife and two grades of sandpaper. And of course wood putty. I buy the glass eyes from a taxidermist. The most common question I’m asked is how long does one take. If the painting isn’t too complex, and if I worked 8 hours a day, the answer is about 4 days. I suspect I’ve carved at least 300, multiples of some species. The most: wood ducks, 4 at once. I "worked" at the front desk for over 20 years for one or two Saturdays a month, and I enjoyed it very much."

https://scvas.org

The Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance (SCVBA) promotes the enjoyment, understanding, and protection of birds and other wildlife by engaging people of all ages in birding, education, and conservation.

Proceeds from this auction go to support all of our education and conservation programs. For more information, go to https://scvbirdalliance.org