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.

Take 2

This is all new but here goes..

I've started to explore birds as a theme for my art work. I wanted to combine this into my other subject Textiles so have tried a few painting on materials more commonly associated with textiles. Take a look at see what you think.

This is the first that I tried, acrylic onto a cotton fabric