About Liz
Baltimore City
I was born in a small town in Alabama and grew up working in the family business, The Heart of Dixie Motel. The Motel was set on a hill with miles of woods behind and HWY 280 in the front. The town lay in the valley below. The Tallapooosa River, just beyond the valley was dammed in 1920 to create electicity, which flooded many small towns and created a huge lake. This lake covers my ancestors homes and graves. Many of my images rise from here.
I graduated from the small but… more
I graduated from the small but… more
Jump to a project:
Oh little cabin in my soul, I am thief and I am guard
Created in March of 2020, in isolation.
I was invited to create a toy theater piece.
I created this sound piece with Michael Willis, from home sounds that I collected with a PCM field recorder, of backyard chickens, keyboard typing rhythm, boiling water and coffee perculating. I sang along with this home sound track just a little while I moved the puppets.
The story is this; The Hand puppet with Reptile Eye, who is me, would love to steal the light . The Moon , protector of the light within the cabin is me also and will not allow the theft.
I was invited to create a toy theater piece.
I created this sound piece with Michael Willis, from home sounds that I collected with a PCM field recorder, of backyard chickens, keyboard typing rhythm, boiling water and coffee perculating. I sang along with this home sound track just a little while I moved the puppets.
The story is this; The Hand puppet with Reptile Eye, who is me, would love to steal the light . The Moon , protector of the light within the cabin is me also and will not allow the theft.
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Cosmic Cabin with Thief and Guard MOV
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Moon and the LoblollyWith Underworld Orchard, (Hanna Olivegren, Steve Strohmeier and Liz Downing) I created and performed this crankie. I have performed this scrolling panorama of images in many settings including the Baltimore Museum of Art and Black Cherry Puppet Theater.
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DirtPlant a seed. Grow sapling tall. Fell the tree. Build a home. Fire eats home. Ground eats wood. Wood is dirt. Dirt wants seed.
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A Wish from the last pages of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. 2021This piece is a vertical crankie, 6" wide which I created for a mini crankie festival in the winter of 2021.
My Soul Boat, Your Soul Boat
Tears will lift your boat, Tears will become the river that will take you somewhere. In this particular place you will see the Dagon Twins dancing to the Dirt song, and the soul boat being tossed on existential waves.
This sound piece, I created in May 2020 with collaborator, Allison Clendaniel. The visual, I recorded alone on my iphone using hand held puppets moving to a sound track by Lurch and Holler, (Liz Downing, Michael Willis). Allison Clendaniel and I added vocals and Allison created further sound layers with James Young on Oboe .
Full credits are at the end of the piece.
Moon tells us as directed by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, "Tears will take you somewhere. Tears will become a river and lift your boat off the dry rocks on the psyche's shore."
Dogon Fish God Man Twins dance to the music of the Seed, with these words:
Plant a tree
Grow sappling tall
Fell the tree
Build a Home
Fire Eats Home
Ground Eats Wood
Wood is Dirt
Dirt wants Seed
This sound piece, I created in May 2020 with collaborator, Allison Clendaniel. The visual, I recorded alone on my iphone using hand held puppets moving to a sound track by Lurch and Holler, (Liz Downing, Michael Willis). Allison Clendaniel and I added vocals and Allison created further sound layers with James Young on Oboe .
Full credits are at the end of the piece.
Moon tells us as directed by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, "Tears will take you somewhere. Tears will become a river and lift your boat off the dry rocks on the psyche's shore."
Dogon Fish God Man Twins dance to the music of the Seed, with these words:
Plant a tree
Grow sappling tall
Fell the tree
Build a Home
Fire Eats Home
Ground Eats Wood
Wood is Dirt
Dirt wants Seed
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Your Soul Boat, My Soul BoatTears will become the river that will take you somewhere. In this particular place you will see the Dagon Twins dancing to the Dirt song, and the soul boat being tossed on existential waves. This sound piece, I created in May 2020 with collaborator, Allison Clendaniel. The visual, I recorded alone on my iphone using hand held puppets moving to a sound track by Lurch and Holler, (Liz Downing, Michael Willis). Allison Clendaniel and I added vocals and Allison created further sound layers with James Young on Oboe . Full credits are at the end of the piece. Moon tells us as directed by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, "Tears will take you somewhere. Tears will become a river and lift your boat off the dry rocks on the psyche's shore." Dagon Fish God Man Twins dance to the music of the Seed, with these words: Plant a tree Grow sapling tall Fell the tree Build a Home Fire Eats Home Ground Eats Wood Wood is Dirt Dirt wants Seed
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The Everlasting Dance between the Once and Future TreesThis piece, gouache on black board, was created in 2021. The Sound Art is by "In the Womb of the Everywhere Room", Liz Downing, Allison Clendaniel with synth and musical arrangements by Greg Hatem. In this piece, the Byzantine Devil dances with the wooden Bat, an ancient enemy, friend.
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A Wish from the last pages of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. 2021May you be born in a Lotus Blossom. Lotus flowers for your hair. Floating upon a lake of fire. Lillie pad will be your chair. Should you not, the Lotus Blossom, should you choose instead a womb, choose then well the door to enter, choose then well, a loving womb. May you be born Remembering. This is a 6" scroll of images, with song Gouache, ink and colored pencil on paper
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Venus crankieCrankie with no sound Scrolling images illustrating the story of Venus..Who in 500BCE, according to Velikovsky, would come dangerously close to the Earth's surface, causing violent disruptions. The women of the Babylonian communities would crawl onto their rooftops offering tall cakes. They would levitate the cakes with their voices, ringing vibrations against the mountains, which can still be felt today.
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O little cabin in my soul, I am thief and I am guard.
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Dirt
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Moon and the LoblollyCrankie with song
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Moments before waking March 2020Early in the pandemic, I used pieces of field recordings and my home environment, coffee maker, backyard chickens clucking through the window, to make a sound track for moving my paintings in and around the "stage".
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New YouOne day, I was walking and I saw New You. Sound created by "In the Womb of the Everywhere Room", Allison Clendaniel, Liz Downing with arrangements by Greg Hatem. Summer 2021
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Mama Ubu Pappa Ubu MOVDadaist Toy Theater, Reading of Ubu Roi. In March 2020, I was invited to create a reading of any part of Ubu Roi, a play by Alfred Jarry, by Joanna Klass of Curie City, Warsaw Poland.
Molesuit Choir
"Liz Downing & Rupert Wondolowski spoke of mixing it up one night at the Fair brothers' Shakemore Festival. Then Liz somehow transformed Rupert's poetry into melody. The passing of fellow friend and a startling poet, Chris Toll, onto the astral plane filled them with an urgency to create an aural life raft upon which to float gently on the ravaging waves of time."
https://molesuitchoir.bandcamp.com/
http://www.lizdowningart.com/music.html
https://molesuitchoir.bandcamp.com/
http://www.lizdowningart.com/music.html
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PetulaMolesuit Choir is Rupert Wondolowski and Liz Downing. I recorded this Molesuit song using a PCM100 field recorder and an iphone. Greg Hatem engineered the sound and added synth. Recorded for the beloved music festival, Shakemore, in July 2020.
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MSC Lonesome CowboyRecorded using a PCM100 field recorder on my porch in July 2020 with Rupert Wondolowski. Greg Hatem added synth and sparkles. Words by poet Chris Toll, fashioned into a song by Rupert.
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Today,Today, I thought, was going to be The Day, but it was Another. Problem is that the Beginning and The End Cannot be Found. I created this video in my music room against a backdrop of storytelling squares, using my phone on a tripod for the visual. The sound tracks, I recorded on a PCM100 field recorder. Greg Hatem added synth and effects. The words are taken from a Rupert Wondolowski poem. I created this for Molesuit Choir's participation in an online show at Rhizome in Washington, DC. Molesuit Choir is Rupert Wondolowski, Liz Downing and Greg Hatem.
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MSC Scrap Heap Porch Rendition for Rhizome.Recorded on my Lauraville porch during the big cicada swelling of Pandemic summer 2020. Molesuit Choir is Liz Downing and Rupert Wondolowski. Words by Rupert Wondolowski.
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molesuit porch OctoberIn the falling Leaves, humming along with the universe, we sing of Today, hopes, disappointments, hopes. October 2020
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My Eyes Need OiledI created this tiny video using a puppet and a gouache drawing adding a remix of Molesuit Choir's "My Eyes Need Oiled" for the sound track. Greg "Lovey" Hatem made the remix and engineered the sound. 2019
Puppets in Sentient Landscapes
In my world of paper puppet making, these things are true;
To create a puppet is to make a character when that character didn't previously exist. It is a very big endeavor and I know immediately if this new character is real or a copy or just plain lifeless. A paper puppet must be able to be clearly read, like a symbol, but have a presence about them so to make you feel in their company, so to make you care about their story.
The backgrounds are home to sacred cabins and landscaped with sentient beings.
Puppet making is still new to me and I am figuring my way through.
To create a puppet is to make a character when that character didn't previously exist. It is a very big endeavor and I know immediately if this new character is real or a copy or just plain lifeless. A paper puppet must be able to be clearly read, like a symbol, but have a presence about them so to make you feel in their company, so to make you care about their story.
The backgrounds are home to sacred cabins and landscaped with sentient beings.
Puppet making is still new to me and I am figuring my way through.
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MerbirdHuman brings Light to share with the Cherub2 puppets against a pink background
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Tender KnowingOrange Puppet Hand resting on the Gnostic Leaf Being. This orange hand is moved by a stick which is moved by the spirit. The leaf is not a puppet and remains in the place she is given. Detail of a 44"W x 32"H gouache on green board created December 2020
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Dagon Fish God, bringer of languageDogon Fish God Bringer of Language visits the Leaf Being who requested his assistance in speaking with the Humans. Since the Fish God is part human, the Leaf Being thinks this may be possible, as she had discussed with her friend above, the moon.
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Soul Cabin who holds the LightThis is a Puppet of a Cabin who holds in safe keeping the Light. She has many visitors, so she waits and they come. In using her for little psyche dramas, I allow characters to attempt to steal an ember, borrow a timber or put out her light.
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soul boat puppet and bird headed cherub puppetThe boat has come to receive instructions from the bird cherub, where to flow, with no occupant and no paddles even if.
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Woman from Crete, 500 BCE, Puppet visiting the Soul CabinsThis is a still moment in the life of a puppet who is visiting the soul cabins, in search of her personal one. This was created in Fall of 2020 and I am in the process of creating sound to accompany the film.
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Byzantine Devil visiting Ancient Rooted, Unrooted.The Devil comes for a visit and to perhaps persuade the ancient stump to spare a splinter of eternal wood. The stump has many visitors.
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wooden owl puppets in a crankie boxThis box is for holding a scrolling panorama of images on paper. But another use for it is for viewing puppets and for creating dramas against a faux wood background. The box is 5' tall, 3' wide.
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Leaf Gnosis against Living WoodLeaf Puppets! One day, two women were singing on the porch. A car passed by through fallen leaves. Giving the leaves a different perspective, but still no personal agency.
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The set for the puppet sound piece, "Just before waking".This is a toy theater set up of wooden cut outs which puppets move through and around. These images are taking place just before you wake. There was a bear who got off the train and that bear grew larger with each step. Crushing a path through the town, through the woods to the room where you sleep with your family.
Black is the Backdrop of the Universe
When working against black, every dot is evident and every mark is meaningful. To me the series is about reduction, even before beginning. Which marks are necessary and which marks are implied? I love to paint the cosmos in this way. Every dot is a galaxy. Every dash is an eon.
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Scorpio Moon.The Moon is a piece of the Earth, a favorite fact. This is an oil painting on a flat circle of wood against a black back drop. I attach this moon to a stick and hold it like a sign, while singing songs of longing to the Loblolly Pine. 25"x 30" x 1/2" 2018
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Stump with Agency and MeansThis piece is on Black board, images created with gouache and ink. 32"H x22"W . Created in January 2021. The stumps around the lake are underwater half the year. When the town was first flooded, the trees were tall and old already. The Alabama Power Company flooded valleys and towns by damming the Tallapoosa River. The water level is raised and lowered according to the power needed by nearby towns. Some times of year we get to visit the stumps, some times of year we don't.
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Cosmic LaundryA drawing for a theatrical set placed in the Bardo. 2019 22'x32" Gouache on black board
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Dress blowing in the cosmic microwave background windsGouache on black paper, 2020.
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Human Cabin Under the CosmosThe human cabin with her domestic scene, exists under the murmuring of the Cosmos.This is a detail of larger piece which is 22"x32".Gouache on black paper 2019
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Breasted LanternFrom the lantern series, an oil lamp on black. To create form with lines is a beautiful trick, one I will never tire of. This breasted lantern magnifies light.
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Leading the Way with TearsThis Merbirdhuman is traveling the darkest path at the loneliest hour. This piece is from the Lantern Series and is Gouache, Ink and colored pencil, 22"x 32".
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Twilight Visitors to the Rooted OneThese are images in several shades of black and several shades of white. They depict a visit between elementals, archetypes at a fragile and shimmering time of day.
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Human Cabin
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Cosmic Bouquet in a ShroudFlowers and funerals make a beautiful pair. Gouache on black with colored pencil. 2019 22"x 32"
Story Boarding Monsters
Within the grids on black paper, with gouache, I catalog the dream actions of childhood monsters who have continued to live into my adulthood. These monsters are: The bear who got off the train and crushed a path through the pines to my family's living room, where we all sat. The goblin who lived under the slop sink, behind the mops and brooms. My dead grandfather's head, which appeared in the corner of the room, more opaque on anxious days. The girl with a Moon Head who followed me too closely. The crusty drunk, being frighteningly unaware.
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Detail of Lifting the Veil in Small SquaresMonsters, Heroes and Flowers in gouache with colored pencil. This is a detail of a 22"x 33" drawing, created in 2019.
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Corn and Moon and the Sisters Inside the WoodMonsters arise during the phases of sleep and inform the dreamer of the deepest layers of existence.
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Moonheads sing the storiesLife in all it's death talk makes us long for the Moon and our Mothers. Gouache and colored pencil. 25" x 34" 2019
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Punch the MonsterThe life in the subconscious links with the lives of all others. Here, I am displaying the dreams of my childhood and how they have informed my life. Gouache and colored pencil on black. 2019
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Bear got off the TrainMy dead Grandfather's head appeared in the corner of the room and never left.
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Me and Momma went to town, to the Piggly Wiggly .Dreams of the first Americans making their way into daylight but on the other side of the veil, I am riding into town with my Mother to the Piggly Wiggly, to the Big Bear, grocery stores with animal names. Gouache and colored pencil 2019
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Moon Headed, planted by moonlight
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Decomposing parents
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Monster over my shoulderIn a dream, just before giving birth, I dreamt that my baby was tied to a crusty drunk who was unaware. I was running after them, but running in place. This piece was created in 2019 as part of an effort to decipher dreams by capturing the main action and turning them into psyche dramas or hieroglyphs.
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In a boat, casting starsCasting stars from a boat, My dead Grandfather's head, the Bear who got off the Train, the Goblin under the Slop Sink, all are in these squares as I try to make into symbols these actions from dreams.
Dream Images in scrolling panoramas
This group of work is from a series of ink and gouache drawings on large sheets of deeply colored paper. These are illustrations of dreams, or paring down of dreams into an image, then into a symbols. I have experienced these dreams during pivitol points of upheaval and change in my life. Each dream is illustrated in 6-8 drawings and taped together, end to end and wound onto a scroll. Then I roll the drawings through a viewing window, in a device called a Crankie. I accompany these scrolling drawings with songs, which I hope further illuminate the meanings.
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The Moon and the LoblollyThe Moon has long wished to nest in the boughs of the Loblolly Pine, but in her crashing down, she broke all the loblolly's boughs. Knowing this to be true, they cried, they kissed. Gouache and Ink on Orange Paper, 2018.
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Lighting the Way, We Need All the AnimalsA bird merhuman traveling through Red carries a lantern. I used mostly dots and dashes of black ink and white gouache on red board. 30" x 30" 2019
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In the Rosy Dawn WaitingThe psychic stump waits for now, while the archetypes swim up or perch for renewing visits.
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Baptist Church Steeple came flowing, bell ringingIn this dream, womb waters had just broken and sent a flood down the river, sweeping away church steeples and household items.
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Pink Goblin sat under the slop sink.From the Dream series, The Goblin lived under the slop sink behind the mops and the brooms. The Goblin would rise and sway, wide smile, when I passed by. And I would be running and running in place.
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Apron and hands
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Air Newly FormedThe Air in this dream was like Air that had never before been lived in or breathed.
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Bear on the trainThis Bear was always riding the train in my recurring dream. He would get off the train deep in the woods and head toward my family home. I knew he was coming and I was always, in the dream, trying to reposition my family from the couch and recliner, so they wouldn't be crushed by the bear's footsteps. The Bear grew larger with each step and I grew smaller as he approached.
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Babylonian Bulls, carved from stoneFrom the walls along the staircase in the Palace of Darius, two great bulls were fighting. Later in a dream, on a high red dirt plateau, I saw from my bird's eye view, the same two bulls, drowning in the quickly rising waters. Ink and Gouache, 22"x 32" 2018
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Anxious MoonFrom the Moon series, the skies articulate the state of the psyche. Gouache and ink on red board, to be cut out for a hand held puppet. 2019
The Sun and Moon Series
These pale colored papers of Cerulean, Robins Egg and Blush, allow the transparencies of the sky, such as the motion of the clouds and the faces of the Deities, to be seen. Using gouache and ink, I can draw with liquid lines, the silhouettes of pines, whom I love. How better to conjure water than with another liquid. Dots and lines of white gouache are capable to describe light on water. All these things make it possible for me to relay the beauty of the land and water and calm the angst for a little while. All the paper is 22"x 32" and year created was 2017.
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Moon Adoring the PineThe Moon, for many seasons has watched the Pine grow and longs to rest in the Pine's boughs.
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Starry Headed Aunt, caring for the stand of PinesIn this Gouche and Ink drawing, the motion of the Galaxies, with lacy arms is directing the wind and crows.
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Mother ArmsMother Arms envelope the Lonely Pine, who is awaiting the Moon.
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Western Pine with Cosmic HandsIn this Ink and Gouache drawing, the Lonesome Pine is the lookout of the Moss Covered Stone and the Cosmic Hands are the Lookout for the Pine.
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Dark Moon Calling
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Deity swallowing the sunrise
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Twilight, Roosting Crow in Rosy HorizonThese two trees are tall pines, the favorites of local crows.
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Seeded Face, Dark Mother, welcomes the crows and then shooooes them away.
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Bird TerrariumCrows live in the terrarium dress, worn by the Mother.
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