New paintings and regular art updates.
Multiple bird images drawn ib black ink fine line pen. I tried to fit the shapes together. Clearly I can’t compete with Escher and his wonderful tessellations, but it was fun to try and think about how the shapes fit together. I looked at patterns as well as shapes, so each bird is an individual. They all seem to swirl round each other.
A metal squirrel climbs up and birds perch on this sculpture at Trentham whilst plants including tulips grow in the planter. 15 minute sketch while we were at Pieminister at the retail Village. I could also see butterflies and a spider. I decided this is an example of art nouveau or that sort of style. It’s made up of four sections bolted together.
The snow has gone for now
Warm winds blow from the south
Clear frosty mornings
Left behind
Rain and showers
Water the blossom and flowers
Cold chill twigs
Now wet with buds.
Birds collect bugs
and think of lining their nests
With moss and fluffy stuff
Warm and snuggled
For eggs and chicks
Farewell Winter.
See you later in the year
As the seasons turn.
Despite it being the start of January I am listening to a beautiful dawn chorus. It is either a Robin or a Blackbird. That’s because I’m struggling to sleep again. But hearing the liquid notes and swirling tunes is fascinating and lovely. I’m just sitting quietly and I can hear strong birdsong despite having double glazing. Each tune or snippet of song only lasts for a little while, then there is a short gap and the music starts again. There is no other sound out there. It’s too early for traffic or footsteps. Just a high series of tweets and whistles cascading from a small bird.
The weather forecast is for lower temperatures and snow rain and ice to return over the next few days. I shall make sure the birds in our garden have food and water. They deserve it for creating such beautiful song. I could not get a photo so excuse my drawing of the garden. Its full of trees and bushes. Now other birds are joining in. Excuse me while I listen… X
Hanging willow
Dragging your leaves
Down into the water.
A fringe of twigs
Shimmer and shake
Reflected in the waters
Sheltering the birds
Lake land tree
Hiding them from predators…
Giving them a home….
Off cuts of paper fly across a desk. The curl of paper behind is meant to show the wind swirling. The pieces were cut from a large paper snowflake I made to show a friends child how to cut shapes out. But to be honest I prefer these birdy shapes. Once I had curved their ‘wings’ out they took on even more of a resemblance of birds.
As the autumn approaches the northern hemisphere the weather gets colder. Local bird populations are looking for food. Some of them need to stock up so they can migrate others so they can overwinter in the UK.
You can get bird foods from local shops and pet stores. Grain, peanuts, sunflower seeds, fat balls, together with a fresh supply of water is what they need. If you feed them bread make sure it has been soaked in water, otherwise it can swell up in their crops and cause harm to them.
See your local nature charities for more information about feeding specific birds.
I must go down to the sea again
Says the old poem.
And I know why
Beauty and violence
Gentle lapping wavelets
And white horses.
Frantic families
Lost sailors
Storms and waves
So high they reach up, up
To the sky.
Birds skim the surface
Grab fish in their beaks
Puffins and Skewers
Cormorants and Choughs
Ever changing
Sometimes boring
I must go there again.
Feed the birds.
£2 a box
There’s a song there somewhere? One of our things we do when we walked round Westport lake. The birds were all round us, pecking our toes. Trying to get the food out of my hand. Even in this weather they want feeding. Ducks, Geese, Goslings, Coots and Moorhens and a solitary Swan.
The birds still have babies, a bit bigger than yesterday, they haven’t all flown the nest yet. It was lovely to see them.
Once you see something it’s hard not to see it. You ‘get your eye in’. I’ve recently seen a few different ones on various walks and I can’t resist taking photos of them. This could be a duck or a pigeon feather? I don’t know. I remember learning how feathers have thin strands with little hooks on them so when a bird preens it’s feathers the hooks can sort of zip the feathers up and hold the strands of the feathers together? I don’t know exactly how it works. I guess I should look it up on line or find a book with details in it. It is fascinating to think about the mechanics of birds wings.
Mallaband-Brown