The Great Blue Heron is no stranger to the BRC lake. During the warm summer months, these solitary birds can be found keeping lonely vigils overlooking our shorelines, and they sometimes stealthily tip-toe up behind the banjo workshop and prowl our grassy back lawn. We never see them in pairs or in a flock. The scientific name for this specie is Ardea herodis, and lawn ornaments of this winged creature dot our neighborhood.

A nervous and wary avian, the heron will quickly take flight if you happen to come within about 100 feet of it. This escapist behavior is demonstrated (above) in a quick snapshot taken from our dock. A lonesome traveler, a startled heron is chased across the BRC lake by its shadow (below) as captured in a photograph taken from our upper back deck.

Years ago, a friend had a rookery of herons in the wooded area behind her rural home. It was impressive to see the community of large nests in the lofty treetops and baby birds craning their necks to visualize the world below. We counted an astonishing sum of almost 70 nests. A few weeks later, the broken-hearted land owner sadly reported that a menacing hawk had begun preying upon the nest eggs, and the entire flock departed one night to safer environs.

For the winter Holiday art show at the community gallery, the BRC craftsman constructed a Heron banjo. As these magnificent birds grows a feathery (occipital) plume at the back of the head during the breeding season, this feature is depicted on the peg head and fretboard inlays.

Males and females are difficult to distinguish as both grow wispy (pectoral) plumage on the breast and soft (scapular) plumes on their wings. With mild autumn weather this year, the herons that visited our scenic BRC backyard lake (seen below) during the warm months were observed to slowly disappear. They had all fled south when the thermometer dropped to freezing temperatures.

At the gala evening reception for the Winter exhibit, gallery visitors study the Heron-themed banjo with its portrayal of this familiar summertime visitor to our Heartland waterways. The 5-stringer found a buyer on opening night.

From the BRC: Have a restful Thanksgiving holiday.

The autumn exhibit at the community art league this year is an interpretative show entitled, “OK, Computer.” Participants chose titles from a list provided by an Artificial Intelligence Title Generator, and the artists were thus challenged to interpret and transform the selected title into their genre of work. The exhibit was an experiment to show the personality and imagination of the artists. The BRC craftsman picked-out the title “Playful Moment” from the computer list, as this agenda seemed to lend itself to a musical instrument. Eighty-five works were submitted to the juried show, and 27 were rejected. The Playful Moment entry was among the 58 submissions that were accepted into the competition.

While designing his A.I. titled 5-stringer, the BRC banjoist strove to explore the concepts of music and time. Does music exist when merely transcribed on a written page, or does it actually exist only when played on an instrument that vibrates the listener `s eardrums? Regardless of the instrument, each note has a finite and fleeting existence when performed – like a shooting star. Music is governed by time signatures, and as we all know- time flies, and sometimes with wings.

These concepts are echoed on the upper neck of the instrument. At the gala opening reception, gallery visitors closely study the BRC`s Artificial Intelligence themed banjo.

From the BRC: What might an A.I. generated Scruggs style breakdown sound like?