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The owl has both fascinated and intrigued me from the time I was very young.  My memories of riding in the car late at night while going home from a family outing and seeing small glowing eyes out in the pasture and on the roadside are still vivid.  There were numerous prairie dog villages at that time and the small burrowing owl was a tenant there also.  Every once in a while the little owl would hop and fly a small distance in the headlights.  I knew that the owls were active in the darkness and that peaked my interest in them.  Being a young child the darkness was sometimes a frightening place and I wondered why the owls were so at home in the night.

As I grew older, my interest in the owls grew also.  I discovered that I was not the only one that wondered about the owl and the darkness.  My readings led me to the thought that owls are basically the keeper of spirits. The owl is thought to accompany the spirit of the person when they leave this physical world and travel to the other realm, sometimes known as the underworld in some Native American cultures. The Burrowing Owl was considered a protector of the underworld and therefore was also associated with things that grew in the earth, such as plants, seed germination and fertility.  Owls are mostly nocturnal and having keen eyesight enables them to move silently through the darkness as they hunt.  The owl also symbolizes wisdom and knowledge and were thought to bring messages to the tribal elders and leaders. The Snowy Owl was admired by the Oglala Sioux Indians and when they excelled in combat, they were allowed to wear a cap of owl feathers to signify their bravery in battle.  This cap would help them with their physical powers such as increasing their vision in the night.  The Hopi tribe uses the owl as one of their sacred Kachinas.  They depict Mongwa, also known as the Owl Kachina, in their ceremonies. My vessel "Keeper of the Night" began early one morning when I was in my yard and looked up in a very tall pecan tree by the road. There, on one of the highest limbs sat a white Snowy Owl. Now, this just does not happen in West Texas. There are Burrowing Owls and Barn Owls, but never a Snowy Owl.  After snapping some quick pictures, the owl flew away. I immediately went in and began to research the territory of the Snowy Owl. I did find on the news, that he had been sighted in several areas around me.  The report said that he had evidently gotten off of his flight path and had come farther South than he should have. I really felt that I needed to create a vessel to honor the Snowy Owl because it was such an accidental, but seemingly planned occurrence to be able to see him at that particular time and place.  On one side of my vessel I placed the large owl among some limbs of a tree, just as I had seem him.  On the other side I introduced the Hopi Owl Dancer. Around him I placed various yucca plants with their blooms, depicting the arid desert. On the top of the vessel I depicted three Burrowing Owls, the keepers of the underworld. I felt that this was a vessel to honor the various types of owls that I had seen in my lifetime. The title of the vessel came from my idea that the owl sees all and takes care of the things that happen in the darkness of the night. What started as childhood curiosity has developed overtime into a love for owls, their history and the reading of various stories and beliefs held by so many different cultures. I hope my work will encourage you to enjoy nature and its creatures even more. I hope you also enjoy my interpretation of the Owls.

Jammey Huggins:

Jammey Huggins is a Southwest artist who was born and raised in West Texas. From her life-long interest in Western and Native American memorabilia she has devoted herself to portraying the culture and history of the Southwest. She seeks to recreate the mysticism and spiritualism of the West in her paintings and sculpture. 

Studying, collecting, traveling and exploring the historic ruins of the Southwest and Mexico are sources for her unique creations. Her love of the outdoors has led her to be particularly aware of the many living creatures in her surroundings. Whether at home, with jackrabbits, box turtles, and coyotes, or traveling and observing dolphins, eagles and bison, she realizes that each is individual and possesses unique characteristics. It is the spirit of life and emotion as well as the physical power and sensual form that she tries to capture in each of the animals. The use of the figure is also very prominent in her works. Personality combined with historical accuracy is her goal in creating a life-like sculpture. When viewing her creations, she hopes they will evoke memories and emotions from personal experiences with both wildlife and human beings.

Jammey Huggins began sculpting in 1982. Since that time she has worked with stone, bronze, clay, polymer, and welded sculpture. Her bronze, "Full Circle", won Best of Show at the annual American Plains Artists Show displayed in the Ellen Noel Art Museum. All of her bronze sculptures are cast using the lost wax method. In this way, all of the details in the original are retained in the reproduction. Huggins produces her sculpture in limited editions and keeps the edition numbers low in order to retain the integrity of her work. 

Huggins holds a degree in art from Texas Tech University, with graduate studies at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and Manhattan College. She participates in both invitational and juried shows throughout the Southwest. Her work can be found in both private and corporate collections throughout the United States.