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.

2/52 Bird a week - the girl with a bird nest in her hair

For the second week of the "bird a week" challenge, I sculpted a bird using clay.  He sits happily in a nest made of hair on the lady I sculpted.  This is my first clay sculpture ever.

For those of you who have followed my creation this past week, the lady now has her neck hollowed out (!) and I also gave some more attention to her eyes and hair, and added some eyebrows. 

I thought I would finish this sculpture off on Wednesday but I tried to "dress" the lady a little and didn't like the result.  So today is the end of the wet clay phase - hopefully -  and then the little lady and her bird get to dry out for a few weeks before firing. Fingers crossed they fire well....

If you are joining in the "bird a week" challenge - please add your link to your blog post or flickr photo below and then add the link list to your blog too.  If you haven't joined and would like to - please go to the flickr group. 

Bird a week #1 - Screaming Eagle

As you may have read this week in my blog, I've started a little challenge this year - maybe not so little???

It is to make a different bird each week.  I've opened up the challenge to others and so far there is a nice group of us starting out - using any media - with the goal of making/creating 52 different birds in 2011.

I started a drawing class here in San Miguel and so thought I'd try drawing a bird as my week one birdie. As I've never studied drawing before and am a complete beginner, the teacher has had me drawing Mexican dolls and pots/jugs etc using vine charcoal.   She is very encouraging and supportive so - getting carried away a little - I thought for my bird week 1 challenge, I'd try something new at home and give pencil drawing a go.

The result is "Screaming Eagle" - a birdie who looks a little angry - but I think he is just enjoying a little scream!

What do you think?  I'm encouraged to do more birds and will take this one to class today and see what the instructor has to say.  Maybe I'll be brave enough to work on some birds there and move on from pots/jugs!!

If you want to see what the other members of our "bird a week" group have done for their first weekly challenge, click on the links below.

It's not too late to join our challenge - in fact you can join any time of the year.  Or if you know someone else who might be interested - do pass on the info.

If you are playing along in our Bird a week challenge, please add your link to your to your blogpost (NOT your blog please) or Flickr photo. Click on the button below and fill in your name with the link to your blogpost or Flickr picture. This is a blog hop so you can put the list on your blog too.Just follow the directions below.

Join the Bird A Week challenge

Want to challenge yourself?  Why not join my "Bird a Week" challenge for 2011.  The goal is to create a different bird each week, using any media you like.

It is a personal challenge - no strict rules, no police - just a way to encourage us to keep those birdies coming - and hopefully end up with 52 different birds each at the end of year and a greater appreciation of birds!

I have formed a flickr group -  Bird a Week - where we can all post our weekly photos of our creations and also a list of blogs for those of us who may blog about what we are doing and what others in the group are doing.

If you yourself don't make/create birds and know someone who does - please forward along the link to them. It would be nice if we had a group of us working together. Thanks for spreading the word. Any media works.

Get birding!

Any questions, just let me know.