Tag Archives: Bird

New Amazing Feather Art Book

Hi there!

Okay, so you guys know I have a thing for birds and feathers…I mean I even did an entire class dedicated to them – soooo when I saw this I kinda freaked out.

Artist and author Chris Maynard is truly gifted! His feather sculptures are beyond gorgeous…see for yourself…

 
How completely stunning right?

Enjoy some more images of his spectacular creations and then go visit his site.

Maynard_11Maynard_04Maynard_03You know his book is on my Christmas list!

MaynardCover

Hope you enjoyed these!

xo,

static1.squarespace.com

 

All images via here.

 

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Filed under Art, Books, creativity, Love, nature, videos

Flight & Feather Round Two

Hello there!

Hope you are all doing well! We survived Halloween and even managed to donate most of the candy, leaving us with a more reasonable stash. My kids disagree but seriously – there is only so much candy one needs lying about! Now, as for art supplies – that’s another story! One can never have too much as far as I’m concerned! ;)

Speaking of art, I’m so excited to share just some of the gorgeous student work from the first week of Flight & Feather! My students never cease to amaze and inspire me!

student work week one with text

From top left, Jan Blencowe, Gillian Bowditch-Cooper, Dee Vlasak, Liz Deck, Alissa Millsap and Karen Harrington

This first class sold out very quickly and with a healthy wait list, I have now opened up registration for a second session with the classroom opening on Nov. 9th!

Go here to learn more and register or simply click the button below! I am limiting my class size again, so now’s the time to join us bird/art lovers for this two week mixed media and encaustic class with lifetime access!

register-button-blue

Here’s a little sneak peek at just a some of the projects we will be doing…

flight and feather projects

I look forward to seeing you in class!

Keep creating and have a beautiful week!

xo,

static1.squarespace.com

3 Comments

Filed under Art, Art lessons, classes, encaustic

Flight & Feather – A New Online Mixed Media and encaustic workshop

Hi there friends!

Hope your week is off to a great start! The Fall weather here has been outstanding and we even managed to get out to the Oregon wine country and picnic with the kids this weekend! We happen to have some lovely friends who have a beautiful vacation rental home out there that I got to help decorate! Very fun to juice up the ole’ interior designer brain that doesn’t get much use anymore!

Anyway, I have some seriously exciting news to share! I have just opened up registration for my new online mixed media and encaustic workshop – Flight & Feather!

Flight & Feather with text

This two week online workshop will explore the magic, grace and beauty of birds! When I look around my studio, I notice how many bird images and sweet stray feathers I have lying about. Birds appear in my work all the time, so I was inspired to create a class all about them!

flight and feather collage

We will be completing 4 main projects and several studies and exercises. These creations would make beautiful gifts for loved ones and friends for the upcoming holiday season too!

I made a little video so you can hear more about it…

Things that we will cover in the workshop:

  • A guided tour of Birds in Art throughout history
  • Bird symbolism and mythology
  • Creating bird sketches with ink and charcoal on vintage papers
  • A study of drawing feathers and wings
  • Bird poetry inspired art journal spread
  • How to set up your encaustic wax
  • A bird/woman metamorphosis portrait collage
  • Feather & Wax Collage
  • Landscape/Bird collage with wax, oil sticks and gold leaf

This class is a must for anyone who loves birds and ART!  

I really enjoy guiding and communicating with my students, so I will only be taking a limited number. Registration will close when the classroom reaches maximum occupancy. 

CLASSROOM OPENS OCT. 26th, 2015

For more info and to register please click the button below.

register-button-blue

I look forward to seeing you in class!

xo,

static1.squarespace.com

 

 

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Filed under Art, Art lessons, collage, creativity, encaustic, Learning, mixed media, online class, teaching, workshop

A Quiet Sunday…

Hello! I hope you all have had a lovely weekend. Ours started with a very, very busy Saturday. Tennis lessons, a school picnic and a kids b’day party! Poor Grace was exhausted. We all were. Typically, we try not to fill our weekends up. The weekdays are hectic enough and in my house, we are big fans of slow mornings, lounging around in PJ’s, a pancake breakfast and several cups of steaming hot coffee. Saturday was none of those…but we did have a good time. Grace was super adorable with her little tennis racket. We met some fabulous new parents at the school picnic and the kids’ birthday party…well…the pizza was good and Grace had a blast!

So today, I had a plan – which was to have no plans whatsoever. I spent the entire day in my yoga pants and as the rain began to fall, Grace and I pulled out our arts and crafts supplies and she began a collage. After much painting, cutting and gluing, she announced – “It’s finished!” She was so proud. She entitled it: “The Bird Family”.

Soon after she was done, her little friend next door called and off she went, excited at the opportunity to play.

I was left alone. My small canvas stared at me, still blank and white as snow. Torn between a desire to create and the fear of not knowing what to do, I decided it would just be best to tidy up and get on with the laundry.  I began picking up, but didn’t get far. I wanted to make something and the stupid laundry could wait. Although my canvas would remain bare, I had a project in mind. A plain pillar candle, I recently purchased, was just begging to be adorned and so the afternoon unfolded…

I just love these plain religious candles. For about $2.00 each, they are perfect for decorating!

Once I started taking pictures of my candle, I couldn’t stop. So many pretty materials were spread out before me…

The stunning ribbon and seam binding I got from a fabulous Etsy store called The Five Dollar French Market. You must visit! Just be warned you will want one of everything!

The photos continued…you see I’m a little obsessed with my new lens. It’s my new favorite and so reasonably priced! Check it out at Amazon here.

What a peaceful day. I so needed it.

xo,

3 Comments

Filed under Art, Crafting, Etsy, photography, Stories, Thoughts

Golden hour

Hi there,

Yesterday was so beautiful and sunny and today we are back to the rain…sigh…Spring is such a tease!

Oh well…in the meantime, I’ve been doing some more digital art and I wanted to share this one with you…

“Golden hour”

Don’t you love that time of the day when the sun turns everything to gold? It’s my favorite. A dear friend once informing me that it is called the gloaming hour. I love that.

If you can, go outside during this magical time. Look around you and marvel at the beauty of it…

xo,

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Filed under Art, Thoughts

Birds of a Feather…

Hello friends! Hope your weekend was relaxing. Ours was filled with birthday parties and time in the sun – a lovely pairing!

Last Friday, I started my day with a trip to the hairdresser….yah! My hair was in desperate need of some love. While my stylist was washing my hair, I noticed a tiny sliver of feather hanging just below her ear. It was subtle but so pretty and whimsical – I knew I must have one. It felt a little rebellious to ask for one in my hair but I went for it!  So, here it is…I think I want more! Can you see it?

Doing something a little different like this makes me feel bold, like I’m stretching beyond my rather conservative (boring) norm. It’s amazing how just little baby steps outside our comfort zone makes us grow. What’s next a tattoo? Probably not…but you never know…

I guess with this whole bohemian trend in fashion, it’s no surprise that feathers are showing up in women’s tresses. Check out these other looks…

Images via: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

So pretty! Don’t want to commit to a feather extension? try a clip from Etsy.

What do you think? Would you put a few feathers in your hair? What is something that you could do outside your own comfort zone?

xo,

12 Comments

Filed under Beauty, fashion, Stories