Click here for Greater Long Island newsletters. Click here to download the iPhone app.
Seagulls, ferries, lighthouses, pumpkin patches, sunflower fields, and crashing blue waves.
These are just some of Long Island’s natural and man-made treasures that artist Kara Hoblin has wrapped into the wings mural she has just completed outside Salsa Salsa in Port Jefferson.
Hoblin, 30, was approached by Discover Long Island to create The Long Island Osprey Wings mural — now located at 142 East Main St.
It was a way to highlight the beauty of Long Island through art.
Discover Long Island specifically reached out to her because of her strong passion for the region, she said.
They knew of the North Fork artist’s other works across Long Island, such as her wildlife chalk art piece she did the Southampton Arts Center and the wooden wing installation she made for KK’s the Farm in Southold.
Angel wings were suggested to her for the Port Jeff mural.
The wings are a big trend across the country and a big hit on Instagram especially.
Hoblin loved the idea of wings, but believed a different type of approach to the angel wings that dominate social media and dating apps would be a better fit for the village.
“I always see osprey on my walks,” Hoblin said. “I love their history of survival; they’re beautiful creatures and mate for life. I thought the osprey wings were better suited than the typical angel wings.”
The history Hoblin is referring to is the osprey’s conservation success story.
According to All About Birds, the osprey population crashed in the 1950s to 1970s due to pesticides poisoning the birds and thinning their eggshells. But the decline halted after the pesticides were banned in 1972, and the osprey population has now grown by 2.5 percent per year since 1966.
Hoblin believes the osprey’s resilience and survival story is relevant to the difficult times many are currently facing today.
“The wings have a very special place in my own heart and align with my idea of uplifting our collective spirits,” Hoblin said.
“They are wings for everyone.”
The artist, who grew up in Bayport but now lives in Greenport, is also an ocean activist, which is what most of her art centers around.
“Some pieces are directly in response to or inspired by certain ocean problems, like the dying off of coral reefs or deforestation or endangered species,” Hoblin said. “I’m hoping some of my work will bring attention to these issues.”
She’s also looking forward to creating a mural in Long Beach similar to The Long Island Osprey Wings in Port Jeff within the next few months.
People can support Hoblin and her art through her Etsy shop. To see more of her art, click here for Hoblin’s Instagram.
Top: Kara Hoblin posing in front of The Long Island Osprey Wings in Port Jeff (Credit: @karabellaa on Instagram)
