Kooky birds?

The sketchers met at the Whidbey Art Gallery this past week.  Barb Barry did some beautiful sketches of Ed Bennett's carved birds and I did a couple of John Longs kooky bird made of recycled materials, like rubber tires and tubes, fishing supplies, garden stakes, feathers, zippers.  The sun was shining and it looks like our street repair/redo is moving right along!

The Lovers

Inmates

Sketching at the Bird Sanctuary this past week was an interesting and wonderful experience.  Slightly overwhelming also!  The birds get really chatty and screechy in the afternoon while having cocktails.
You know how it is!  Someone always has to be louder than the other person.
The red/purple female bird is so colorful and sweet.  I'm a little wary of the macaws with those big beaks.
The two lovers below must have been smoking something, because they kept making goo goo eyes at each other!

The Lovers

Nest

Last year I found hiding under the Heathers a robins nest made from strips of cedar and other twigs.  I kept it on the porch table and recently thought I had better preserve it with a painting.  I painted a 12x16 version that is at Whidbey Art Gallery and framed it with a fancy frame.  This  8x8 version has a simple more modern frame and is square.  I like both of them and hope you do too!

Large nest 12x16

8x8 version with a bit of glare

Baileys Corner

Last weekend I set up my art at Baileys Corner.  It is at the South end of the Island on the way to Possession Beach.  There were about 6 artist; two wonderful Encaustic Painters, Glassblower, Jeweler, two Pastel artists and me.

Bluebird

Curious Crow

Crows in puddle

I brought some new materials to work on and play with called Acrylic Ink and an acrylic painting pad.  This wonderful ink comes in a bottle complete with an eye dropper.  Using the eye dropper as my drawing tool, I copied a painting of crows that I had hanging on the wall.  I used a combination of drawing the line and pulling the paint with a dampened brush or wetting the background, dropping some paint onto it and manipulated the pad each way to cause the paint to run.  I like the effects that were happening; it was a serendipitous play of color and line that was only slightly controlled.  In the second crow painting and subsequent bluebird painting I used the ink and more controlled painting with a brush.