Resting up to Race

Gouldian Finch, in progress ©St. Hilaire Nelson
The day before the race, I tried to relax and not exert myself in the FL heat! I walked the dogs a few times in the morning, but in the afternoon I settled in to the small table top in our RV and worked on a bird for my Carnival of the Animals series.

I packed my portable art bag, the very same one I took to the dance competition. I also packed a 12x12 bird, which was pre sketched and painted on an American Easel Wood Painting Panel, which I primed with clear gesso so that I could leave the wood grain showing.

A Very Special Commission

Part Five: Finished!

For Michael | 12x10 | collage on wood panel

Here is the finished piece. This very special commission is of a Blue Bunting, which is a bird that has special meaning to the woman who asked me to create this collage. She asked me to create this Paper Painting for her sister, who had lost her only son, Michael. You can see that I worked his name very subtly into the tree just above the bird where they intersect. If you zoom in on the church, you will also see that the text that creates the white, is about blue birds.

The drippy painted effect at the bottom is from the under-painting -- in the end, I decided that I wanted to let that show through. At the bottom and the very top, there are small areas of wood that are exposed to show the viewer what's underneath, I really like showing the color and the texture of the birch wood panel. Around the tree and it's branches are pencil lines that I have been experimenting with leaving in the finished work.

The DVD overview of the process that I am working on, actually highlights this piece. I have gotten so much positive response about the video that I am considering adding a voice over to it (the first version will simply be set to music for galleries to play in the background) that will in fact make it instructional. The video portion covers the process from start to finish, I just need to describe, in detail, what I am doing along the way. With an added voice over, this video would offer step-by-step instruction on my collage process. I hope to add this to the project and make it available for purchase in the next several weeks!

Buy it Now!

Nest Companion for Small Bird Collages

Last night I completed this small nest, which makes a great compliment to the small birds, don't you think? I am not sure why I did not think of it sooner. Nests are great fun because birds weave all kinds of papers, strings and materials into their nest, much in the way I weave all kinds of papers into my collages. I feel that my collage process is kind of like nest building and so another connection to avian art.

Robin's Nest -- unframed
SOLD

Buy it Now!

Cardinal Confetti--unframed
12" x 10" (30.5cm x 25.4cm)
Collage on Panel
$100 plus $6.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Buy it Now!

SOLD
12" x 10" (30.5cm x 25.4cm)
Collage on Panel
$100 plus $6.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Buy it Now!

Tweets--unframed

SOLD

Buy it Now!

SOLD
Many thanks to my friend Deb Trzcinski for not only purchasing this small bird collage, but also for providing some of the paper that is actually being used in it! Deb spent some time in Italy and was kind enough to send me some very special papers from her collection. I hope she will enjoy this for many years to come.

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Just for You -- Unframed

SOLD

Small Space Bird

Reconciliation

12x12, collage of hand-painted papers on panel

The little bird is complete! He is cute and will be at my "Rip Curl" two-person exhibit at the LoPressionism Gallery in Melbourne, FL opening July 17.

More Birds up for Bid

SOLD!

Cardinal on Blue
12" x 12" (30.5cm x 30.5cm)
collage on Panel, UNFRAMED
$100 plus $6.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Back to the Drawing Bird

Most Recent Small Birds

12x12, collage on wood panel, unframed, available at COMMA Gallery in Orlando

Recently I had been struggling with inspiration when COMMA Gallery contacted me and said that they had sold two of my small bird series, and had collectors interested in Cardinals. Two different collectors said they would buy birds if they were Cardinals. So, I got busy. After all, I am from New England and Cardinals are something we used to get very excited about, especially in the winter when many of the other birds had flown south. I funneled my enthusiasm for colorful birds and cold weather right into my work and came up with four new pieces in my small bird series.

Now I have a plan for my next piece. My friend Anndella Bond from Australia had provided me with material as inspiration for and incorporation with my collage work, her "Mum" even sent over a packet of potential materials from Australia. I have been wondering what type of Aussie specific imagery I could work on with my magazines and newspapers sent half way around the world, in addition to my existing huge collection of Australian stamps from Kaite Matilda. 

I am working on a piece that will be made up of four small birds, 12x12 with a twist. I intend to connect them and put them all in one frame. I also intend to make all four birds Australian birds, AND I plan to leave some of the collage process showing through. What does this mean? Some sketch, some under-painting and some areas of un-finished collage. I want to process to be come clear to the viewer when they spend some time with the birds!

Birds on a Wire

This Bird is Currently at Comma Gallery

More Birds up for Bid

Red Robin--Comma Gallery

Blue Bunting--Comma Gallery

Spring is for the Birds

Birds on a Wire -- New Series Takes Flight

Oriole, 12x12, collage on panel

I am starting on a series of small bird collages for spring, Oriole is one I did for my friend Heather to hang in her new shop "Heather Handmade" on Ivanho Row in Orlando. I plan to offer small unframed collages for sale right here on my blog in the upcoming weeks.

Perhaps a little bird might help to remind you that spring is around the corner!

New Work

Sketches for Birds on a Wire

10x10 collages on panel

Spring is in the air, at least here in Florida it is. I have noticed a lot of very bright green trees this past week while out bike riding. My family lives in the Northeast and they are still getting dumped on with snow and cold weather, as I am sure many of you are.

I thought that these little bird collages might brighten your day!