A Little Spring Before Winter

Here it is November and I’m posting a springtime painting. This painting is one that I started several years ago; I painted the bird but the background wasn’t working. This sat in my studio closet for a long time.

Then one day I got thinking that my friend, who my husband and I go bird watching with, would love this painting because he always remarks on the red winged blackbirds when we are at Maplewood Flats or Reifel bird sanctuary. With an intended recipient in mind, I had fresh inspiration and motivation to finish it. I am used to using acrylic paints in a more watery, layered manner so I was challenged to paint the leaves with more direct brushstrokes yet still achieve the abstract look that I wanted. I finally completed the painting to my satisfaction in early 2010 but it took me until last night to get it to my friend. Though it was long overdue, he was appreciative!

Flying in a new direction

Cotter Creek Crow

Nesting Hwy 4 (Available for purchase, please inquire)

A  couple of years ago I did several chickadee paintings, which were meant to turn into a painting series. But as painting made way for studies to become an elementary school teacher, the birds sat quietly in the ‘future paintings’ index of my mind. This winter I have started reintroducing birds into my paintings. I am happy to have my feathered friends back in the studio with me. Cotter Creek Crow and Nesting Hwy 4 are both acrylic paintings with paper collage elements. They were painted during the same period of time but reflect both my minimalist, clean and modern sensibility (Cotter Creek) as well as my desire to layer and age an image (Nesting). Cotter Creek became the inspiration for a commissioned two-crow painting that was a wedding gift for a couple who married on the beach in Ucluelet, BC.

The Night Flight lid features a barn owl collage element.

The inside of Night Flight contains a map, key and hand-built nest.

Nesting Hwy 4 reawakened my interest in collage. I poured over the pages of Collage Discover Workshop by Claudine Hellmuth. Collage materials gathered, I set to work on a small collage box. It is amazing how crayons, a heat gun, collage paper, sticks, paint, gel medium, sand paper and other materials can spread so widely for the creation of a miniature piece! I created Night Flight for my friend’s 30th birthday present.

Owl at Reifel. Photo Credit: Richard Warrington

I was able to present it to her, a mutual bird lover, the day went birding at Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Ladner, BC.

It was fitting that we actually saw an owl that day (though it was a barred owl, not a barn owl).