Review of my "bird a week" challenge

Yesterday I finished my 52nd bird of 2011!  They were all part of my "bird a week challenge".  If truth be told, I made more than 52 birds in the year, but for the challenge, we only counted those that were a new design, and some of my extras were repeats of designs that I'd done before.

Looking back at them, I used 17 different materials to make the 52 birds.  Here are the main media:

• 18 were made from silver
• 12 were made from aluminum
• 5 were made from steel
• 3 were made from food items

11 of the 17 media I used, I had never tried before, so it was a big learning year.  The new media included encaustics, printing from zinc plates, plaster wrap, wax, and plasticine illustrations.

Most of the birds were "generic" but there were 9 specific species that I made, as follows:

• 1 eagle
• 2 bluebirds
• 2 herons
• 2 quail
• 1 robin
• 3 penguins
• 1 owl
• 1 parrot and
• 1 kingfisher

If I were to choose two techniques that I now wish I'd explored a bit more and tried more birds with, they would both be illustrations - one was a pencil drawing and one was a illustration with plasticine.   

Screaming Eagle - week 1

Great Blue Heron

I would really like to be able to illustrate and as I was lucky enough to get Adobe Illustrator for Christmas, I'm hoping that this is a skill that I can develop in 2012.

Here is a slideshow of all the 52 different birds.  Tomorrow I'll let you know about the others who joined me in the challenge.

50/52 Bird a week - March of the penguins

This week's bird - or actually birds - are edible...but I don't think any have been eaten!  It was our book club Xmas lunch on Friday and I signed up to make dessert. I thought it would be nice to make individual desserts for the 10 of us, so I made gluten free ginger and zucchini igloo cakes and penguins from icing!

You may well see a similarity between these penguins and my penguin necklace "Cold hands, warm heart"!

When they were made, they all started playing together. Their favorite game, as you can see from the photos, is "follow the leader", or as they call it "The March of the Penguins".  Off they went, all around my kitchen!

Each one is sculpted from black, white and orange icing - which is made from powdered sugar with gelatine and glycerin. It's very easy to sculpt with.  You stick the parts together with either water or alcohol.

My sculpting of birds and animals in icing actually predates my sculpting in silver, and jewelry making.  In fact, it probably was a big influence in my 3D sculpting with metal clay as opposed to creating more flat pieces of jewelry.

Anyhow - at the bookclub lunch, the igloos were eaten, but everyone took their little penguin home. Some were to be saved for grandchildren, the others were going to sit as decorations for the Christmas holiday season!  Yes, they last quite a while in the open. I have three sat at the bottom of a candle!

With their igloos!

I am making dessert for a party this weekend too, so maybe some more penguins will join the march.....

To view the other birds that have been made on our 50th week of our bird a week challenge, check the links below! Yes, these little penguins are my 50th bird this year!  Only two more to go!!!

46/52 Bird a week challenge - Kingfisher

This week's bird a week is a special gift.  It was my parents' Golden Wedding anniversary (50 years) on 11.11.11. so I sculpted this Kingfisher sitting on a reed,  in silver for them.

And the reason for a kingfisher?  When my parents go for a walk in Lincoln, where they live, whenever they see a kingfisher on the river, they always think of me and think that I am close.

And so I thought if they had a kingfisher sculpture, whenever they looked at it, they would always know that I was close to them, never mind how many miles away I may be.

The symbolism of a kingfisher is also appropriate as it is a long-time symbol of peace and the promise of abundance, new warmth, prosperity and love.  These are all wishes that I send to them as they continue their married life together.  The Kingfisher is also known as the Halycon and I'm sure they have many memories of Halycon days together from these past 50 years.

So remember mum and dad, like the kingfisher, I'm watching over you and always close to you.

If you want to see what other birds have been created this week, click on the links below:

45/52 Bird a week challenge - Quality time with friends

This week, I've gone back to aluminum for my bird a week and created a color anodized aluminum bangle.  In fact, there are 133 birds in my challenge this week.  They all decided to gather and just spend some time together. They are not really doing anything particular.... just hanging out together, chatting and laughing...... 

Sweet little birdies perched on the wires. Everyone has their little space, no one crowds the other and they chat to their neighbors or sometimes just sit in silence.

It seems a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon...don't you think?  Quality time with friends.

I hope you've had some quality time with friends this week.

If you want to see what other birds have been created this week as part of our challenge, click on the links below:

44/52 Bird a week challenge - Sweet dreams

Following on from last week's bird which was a ring "Sweet Nature", this week I've made a similar open ring entitled "Sweet Dreams":

The little birdie has his eyes closed and sits in the gentle glow of the moon...dreaming about???...worms? grubs? seeds?  I wonder what birds dream of... I think Harold our parrot dreams of cashew nuts and bananas (and macaroni cheese!)....but I wonder about the outdoor birds...

Anyhow, this one looks like his dreams are sweet.

Sweet Nature (left) Sweet Dreams (right)

If you want to check out the other birds that have been made this week by others taking on the bird a week challenge, click on the links below:

43/52 Bird a week challenge - Sweet Nature

I've been seeing open rings, or double headed rings for a while recently. They've caught my eye, but I'm not even sure what their proper name is...  Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to try and make one.

The idea is that the ring band doesn't close and on each end, you add a certain detail.  These details then sit between the fingers and the ring still sits securely on the finger.

For my ring, there obviously had to be a bird for my bird a week challenge.... and then I thought of a sweet little flower. I think birds and flowers are probably the sweetest things of nature, and thus I called it "Sweet Nature". It would make a perfect gift for someone with a sweet nature.

The joy of a double headed/open ring is that the size is somewhat adjustable.

Do you know what these styles of rings are called?  Are they only double headed when it is two "heads" you put on the ends ie like snake heads or something like that?  What name do you think accurately reflects it?  Hmmm..... and while we are all thinking on that...  take a look at what other birds have been created this week by following the links below:

41/52 Bird a week - Soar

This week's bird is one I started at the end of September. For September's Merry Go Round blog post, I wrote a tutorial on how to make a sculpture with plaster wrap, but I didn't finish off the sculpture.  Yes, you may have guessed that it was a bird, and so I finished him off today for this week's birdie "Soar".  

I had planned on painting him in acrylic paints, but in the end, I decided to use tissue paper instead. 

Doesn't he look like he is just soaring....so effortlessly.....!

You can read the plaster wrap tutorial here.  Plaster wrap is similar to the material they used to use to put a plaster on your arm or leg when you broke a bone! It's a great and quick material to use and you can then finish your sculpture in whatever way to choose.

I hope you soar this week!

If you want to see the other birdies created this week as part of the challenge, check the links below:

34/52 Bird a week - Time for me to fly

Back trying out the steel clay again.  This time, I decided to utilize it's magnetic powers and create a magnetic pin/brooch.  Thus "Time for me to fly" was born. My 34th bird in the bird a week challenge.

He's a happy little bird, legs a-flappin' (and they wiggle as you wear him), and tucked under his wing is a little yellow feather.

The wing is removable as it is attached using the magnet that secures this pin/brooch to your clothes.  This means you can change the feather for a different colored one, or else you can omit the feather if you prefer and just angle the wing however you would like it (- or depending how fast he is flying!!).

Here he is, borrowing one of Harold's feathers (my pet parrot!)

A versatile little fella, don't you think??! And yes, the magnet is strong enough that he stays in place on your clothes, (without a pin creating a hole) and keeps his wings and feathers in place too!

Gotta go now - time for me to fly!

You can see the other birds that have created this week by clicking on the links below.

27/52 Bird a week - Bathtime at Birdland

A customer asked me to make one of my birdbath rings for her. I love watching the birds take their little dip.  Everyday quite a few come into our fountain and splash around and dunk their heads.  We try and put the fountain on everyday for them.  They seem to enjoy it so much.  Our parrot Harold loves his too - although he has showers not baths!

This little birdie seems to be enjoying his bath too. What do you think? Are you a bath or a shower person?

Check out the other birdies created this week by following the links below:

26/52 Bird a week challenge - Gouda, the happy bird!

This week I'd like to introduce you to Gouda.  Unlike so many birds you hear about lately, she is a happy bird and definitely not an angry bird - although I think the camera startled her a little! She's not used to having her photo taken.

Her favorite place to hang out is in the kitchen - especially in the fridge.  She definitely doesn't like hot weather as she gets a bit sweaty and smelly, so keeping cool is a priority of hers.

She is 4 inches tall, and many describe her as "tasty"!  When you look at those feather markings on her chest, you begin to understand why!

She is delighted to join the rest of the birds in the bird a week challenge - especially this week as we are half way through the challenge! Yes, week 26 of 52.  There is still a group of us keeping up with the challenge so if you want to see their 26th bird, please click on the links below. The linky tool isn't always working right so the Flickr group shows all the birds we've completed so far.

20/52 Bird a week challenge - Songbird

My bird a week challenge this week is my best selling bird - The Songbird necklace.  I made two of them this week.

It's actually not difficult to become my "best seller" as most pieces I make are either one of a kind or small limited edition (up to 5).  There are only four items that I make in quantity - my songbird necklace, my songbird ear threads, my flower ear threads and my "missing piece" bracelet.

The songbird design was the second bird I ever made...quite a few years ago now.  I remember my very first bird had shoes on as I couldn't figure out how to do feet!  Then the songbird was easy as he didn't even have legs!!! It's interesting to see how our "limitations" affect our designs!!!

To check out the other birds that have been made this week as part of the BAW challenge, click the links below:

18/52 Bird a week challenge - Expectant Robin

I was sat on the window seat in my studio yesterday, talking to my mum on the phone.  She mentioned some felt work she had seen that day...and I looked straight ahead and saw my "felt" drawer, full of wool roving that I hadn't touched in ages.

A few years ago, I did a lot of felting but that was knitting and then wet felting to make bags. I had tried a teeny weeny bit of needle felting back then too - so I decided that for this week's Bird a Week, I would use felt as my media. 

 So meet needle-felted "Robin" - patiently waiting on her nest for her three little blue eggs to hatch.

You can see that Robin is a British Robin, not an American Robin. No, they don't have different accents - but they look very different from each other!!! Here are the two types:

British Robin

American Robin

While I like both robins, the British one seems so cute and plump and round!  And he adorns so many Xmas cards!  A totally different shape than the American. I think mine should have had a more plumped up red breast to be honest...but never mind!!!

Please click on the links below to see the other birds that have been made this week as part of our year long challenge:

13/52 Bird a week challenge - Quentin Quail strolls in the garden

Yes, Quentin has finally joined the "bird a week challenge"!!  For those who don't know, Quentin is an old friend who lives with us here in Birdland. He is a California Quail who shares his life with his wife Queenie and their numerous babies. During the winter he hangs out in his covey of other quail friends.   If you look under "caption competition" at the top of this post, you'll see Quentin and some of his friends from last year!!!

Well today he is hanging out on one of my leafy aluminium bracelets, entitled "Quentin strolls in the garden":

He likes wandering among the leaves and looking for food...... I think maybe later in the season when he has his family, it would be good to see all the quails together on a bangle. What do you think????

Doesn't he look handsome!

A group of us are all challenging ourselves to make a bird a week for 2011, and here we are, already on week 13 - a quarter of the way through!  I hope you'll take the time to see some of the other birdies created this week by clicking on the links below....more and more links appear as the week goes by as people finish their birds. Hope you enjoy them:

3/52 Bird a week - Love bird

I did an encaustics class with my mum this week.  You'll see the first painting I did in an earlier blog post but just before the end of the class, I asked the teacher about adding metal leaf to the paintings.  She had some aluminum leaf and so I quickly use the last few minutes we had to make my bird for this week.

Love Bird

The lime green is the beeswax with pigment and resin which I applied in a few layers.  I fused each layer and then scraped it flat with a razor blade.

I asked the teacher if I could cut up the metal leaf - which was actually aluminum.  She said she had only ever applied it whole - as a square on the backing material.  I had nothing to lose, so decided to cut out shapes of aluminum leaf and apply it to the solid green wax.

To do this, I had to warm the wax a little, apply the leaf and press/brayer. Then you add water and gently rub off the backing sheet. It worked just fine with the shapes of metal leaf - no problem at all. I then fused the leaf to the wax and over-fused the birdie to try and get a crackle effect in the metal to indicate a feathery feel. The result is:  Love bird or I love birds or ???

If you are part of the bird a week challenge, please add you link below to this week's photo or blog post.  If you want to join in our challenge, please visit the flickr group for more info. You can join at any time.