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:

First sign of spring - Friday's fascinations, facts, and folklore.

In Europe, the cuckoo call is considered the first sign of spring.  In the US, it is the reappearance of the American Robin.  American Robins are very hardy and can withstand cold and snowy weather so don't tend to migrate.  In the winter they switch to a diet heavy with berries and will only migrate if no food is available.  However, as the weather warms and insects and worms begin to show, robins are seen suddenly, as if they just returned from some warmer location.

Just over a week ago, the Robins "returned" to Birdland - and lots of them. They seemed to be eating the olives from the trees and on the lawn below and also looking for insects in the grass.....every morning there are over 50 of them, all very busy!  Welcome back Robins, even though you didn't go anywhere!

Are you seeing and hearing signs of spring yet where you live?

My own desk buddies

After yesterday's post, I thought maybe I should introduce you to my own current desk buddies. They are a motley crew....

Firstly there is "just for you". This little guy I think you may have met before. He was one of the first sculptural animals I ever made. People often think of him as different types of animals - he was just a cutie to me - his very own species and kindly bringing me a flower. Whenever I do a show, he always comes along with me to keep me company and look after the stock!

Similarly, and the same species, but in bronze, here is my next little buddy. Again he brings a flower but it was also mentioned that maybe he is protecting his modesty. So he was called Modesty Max for a while - but as he was one of the first pieces I ever did in bronze, to me, he is known as Pat Ina - as in patina!

While I was playing with bronze at the conference this summer, my two friends Marly and Angie gave me Ding the Ring. When they first gave him to me, he was "just" a ring and didn't have any features or body parts.....but then when he came home with me, he developed! He's quite the character now and a bit wayward!

And then in the next photo you can see Robin who is hand felted and just had a busy Christmas time, posing for lots of Christmas cards....and then my other early bronze piece, a Quentin quail. Quite the menagerie! Guess that's another excuse for having an untidy desk.... Oh and yes, can't forget my blue footed booby either - all the way from the Galapagos islands.....and my musical frog - a gift from my nephews....Quite a rowdy gang when I let them all hang out together - so I try to space them out a bit to keep the noise level controllable!

So show me yours! All photos gratefully received....... Who do you share your space with???