Carol King Hood Flies into the new year with a collection of avian inspired paintings “Spirit of the Songbird”. Her art celebrates those amazing things that make our town special. For a tiny community of 300 permanent residents, Cape May Point’s special location puts it on the world stage. One of those features is its fame as a destination for birding. Audubon list Cape May Point as number three on the list of best bird watching destination in America. As proud residents of the peninsula both Carol and her husband are avid naturalist.

Studies show that people who live where they are routinely exposed to the sounds of birds have healthier, happier and longer lives. Songbirds are the voice of mother nature and connect us to it.

Birds are so free, they are not bound by gravity. They are more spirit then animal. Rising to the heavens and to places we can’t imagine. From the dawn of time, man has longed for the freedom of birds, and they are a symbol of the unfettered spirit.

In art, songbirds are symbolic messengers between heaven and earth. They represent the divine, carrying prayers upward, carrying comfort downward. Their flight is the journey of the soul as it sours beyond our physical bodies. Their visits and voices are seen as messages from those who have passed. Birds are the genesis of dance, of music, of transcendence. They are so ingrained into human nature representations of birds appear in all cultures in all times, in Egyptian and Mesopotamian art, in eastern traditions and in native and aboriginal cultures. Without birds there might be no art.

Carol’s new works, like the appearance of your resident cardinal couple at you feeder in the morning, or in a special place within your personal art collection, is guaranteed to bring joy to the start of every day.