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.

38/52 Bird a week - Harold singing his favorite song

This week's bird creation is based on my pet parrot "Harold".  He is such a cutie.  Every morning he gets an hour of children's television and he loves it! All those high pitched voices and lots of excitement gets him singing along. 

Currently, he watches "Curious George" at 8am and then "The Cat in the Hat" at 8.30am.  If you want to make a phone call while Harold is watching his TV programs, you have to go outside, as he makes far too much noise!

Hearing a parrot sing with you or with the TV or a CD is such a happy thing! His favorite song is "you are my sunshine".  People who come to visit him always sing it too fast however, so if you come by one day and meet Harold, remember to sing his favorite song - but sing it slooooowwwwwlllllyyyy. Then he'll join in.

This week's bird in the photo is a brooch, made of steel with a magnet to secure it to your clothes.

Take a look at the links below to see what other birds have been made this week by others also on our year long challenge to make a different bird each week: