My first exhibition!!

Last night was the opening night of the exhibition, Between the Lines. This is an exhibition that had a combination of the works of 10 different artists each using their own particular techniques to bring together an exhibition.

After two very busy days setting up, the private view last night was a massive success, even with a sale of a piece of work! The exhibition is now open 11 - 5pm wednesday to saturday so you still have a chance to catch it.

I was so pleased with how my work looked when it was all put up, made the hard work seem worth it! It has also inspired me to carry on with what i'm doing and to try experiment with the idea of the birds on different backgrounds. It was said at a group crit on monday that maybe I should try to use the patterns of the backgrounds as the feathers for the birds and the birds feathers as the background. I might have a look into trying this out and to see how successful it looks.

Another thing that I am wanting to do is to take my own pictures of birds and to draw them  from life as I think that this will improve my skills and help to make them more realistic. So maybe by the next post there might be some more birds to add to the 'Menagerie'. 

Working small, thinking big

Blue Tit



Looking back at the pieces that I created at the start of the year, I realised how much I loved painting on a small scale and on patterned fabric. I liked how working on an often floral background makes a background for the birds. This completely changes the appearance of the birds and makes them have much more of a character.

I have tried to recreate this idea by doing another small bird onto floral fabric. What I like about using the backgrounds of patterned fabrics, is that you get to see part of that pattern through the paint and other parts are completely blocked out. I think that I would have liked to have taken more time to make that blue tit more realistic as the way I have painted it makes it seem smooth and tidy whereas the feathers actually created a ‘fluffy’ texture to the birds.

These pieces are all leading up to an exhibition, Between the Lines, that I am participating in with 9 emerging artists. This is an exhibition that is taking place in Walcot Chapel in Bath on the 13th - 16th April.

Driving me crazy!

There was only going to be so much time before I went a little mad from bird over load. I needed to look at them differently to be able continue with them!

 I researched into different ways of drawing and painting birds and came across some collaged ones. I thought that layering the different papers broke down the bird into simple blocks of colour and shape rather than looking at it in detail. This approach was something that I wanted to try out. 



Collage Bird

Here’s my attempt!

I thought that by breaking them down in shapes would help me to see them differently and to make them different from the rest! I like the simple colours in this one that helps to suggest the different colours of feathers that the bird it was based on had. Breaking the colours down into shapes makes the birds a lot easier and simpler to do. I think I will definitely try this out again!



After having a tutorial, it was discussed that I could take the collaged bird that I had done and put it into a location. As my birds are about their locations, I thought that this would be nice to try. Now, my photoshop skills aren’t good, well nonexistent, so this is just a quite roughly put together idea of what putting my birds into a different location could look like. So here it is..



Location





Mixing it up..

I just thought that I would put up a piece of my textiles as I am also looking at birds there as well! There is such a thing as too many birds I’ve discovered though!

This is piece is a start to some work that I am putting up in the American Museum, Bath in May. 

Freedom Bird



  

It is a huge passion of mine to combine both art and textiles medias because I like how the different medias work together. I haven’t really used a large amount of embroidery in my art work yet but this could be because of the amount I have done in textiles.

What I have been influenced by in textiles is pattern and colours, although this piece doesn’t have a lot of colour in it, my other work does and it’s more about the range of colours that I am using. As for pattern, I have looked at Native American patterns which I am thinking of combining these ideas with the birds. 
 



Blue Jay



The birds are influence by the work of John James Audubon, an artist who painted American birds; I like this idea of painting a specific type of bird but have tried to make them more delicate and suitable for patterns.

This is a piece of his work. I like the images of the birds that seem to be in-flight as it adds a sense of movement to them hence why I have used the birds with open wings for my textiles.

A New Addition!

Well, it’s been a long time since I last posted but I intend to, from now keep a more regular update on the work I am doing!



Love Birds


I am still looking at birds! However, since last time I have taken them away from their locations completely to see what they look like without it. I found this in a way harder to do; just choosing a simple plain white fabric to paint on just seems daunting. It’s the same as the fright of making the first mark on a piece of paper. When I have the pattern of the fabric behind the piece it feels as if the birds are meant to be there, it’s their habitat.

Because of the birds strong colours though, I think that it has worked well without the added pattern of the fabric. The idea of just the plain background might be something that I explore again but it has shown me that I am much more comfortable working with the pattern. I guess this ties in my love of textiles into the work and this was something I was passionate about doing!

A Bird's Location

Bird on wallpaper

Being inspired by the work of Abigail Brown, I decided to explore painting on different backgrounds to see how this affected the bird’s appearance. As in the piece I uploaded, her bird has been placed into a location; a bird cage. I decided that I would try to put one of my birds into a location.

For this I chose to use a wallpaper sample that I had. I was attracted to the colours and delicate branches of this particular one so thought it would be ideal for one of my birds. The image I chose to paint was of a Blue Tit. I thought that the particular position it was in suited the direction of the branches. I also think that the colours of the bird compliment those of the wallpaper and make it look as if it has always been there.

Something that I am going to look at now is whether to explore a more three dimensional approach to working with birds and have a go at making something like Brown's. In the meantime I am continuing with painting on fabric so there will be more to come...

Birds of a Feather

Bird Cage

This is the work of Abigail Brown. These birds are part of a collection of 5 species of birds. They are hand and machine embroidered then stuffed to create the shape. They are based on drawings and sketches but when it comes to creating each of them, Brown doesn't work directly from the images.

"My work with birds evolved because they are beautiful: so fragile and yet so animated... Merrily they chirp in the dawn, delighting me with their happy tunes."

I think that it would be hard to say that Brown doesn't have a huge passion for what she is doing; without that passion these birds would not be the same, or hold the same beauty. What I like about these is how she's used recycled materials to make them. Nothing is specifically bought for them. They almost appear for nothing.

With the work that I am currently experimenting with, I have been using images of birds and sketches that I have previously created to paint representations onto fabrics. Using a similar idea to Brown’s, I have chosen to use fabrics that I already have rather than to go out and buy some specifically. This is something that I tend to like to use within my work as I feel it changes the finish to the piece. It makes it look less controlled and more natural.