rids in Flight Archives - Poached Egg Woman

Rice paper Trio on Plexi Glass with Artscape Rice Paperproviding the frosted look (and UV protection)

Rice paper Trio on 8 x 8 Plexi Glass with Artscape Rice Paper providing the frosted look (and UV protection)

Rice paper pair on 8 x 8 clear plexiglass

: Autumn Jester – rice paper bird (no plexiglass)

Pink and Green Fairy Bird? (no plexiglass)

Simple things amuse simple minds.

Creating rice paper birds fills me with a quiet joy and delight. In a sense they are all the same bird, although they vary slightly in size and shape and are all the colours of the rainbow. Holding a piece of pink rice paper to the sunlight with a piece of green behind it and seeing how it looks in different lights thrills me. It is one thing to glue pieces of translucent paper together on a table; it is an entirely different thing to hold these same pieces of paper up to the window and see how they are completely transformed by light. As I create a rice paper birds, it is akin to having a conversation with light – I cut, I hold up to the light, maybe I glue, maybe I try another shade. For this reason, it takes about 45 minutes, give or take, to create a rice paper bird. I feel as though I could cut and glue and construct these little creatures for a very long time.

Larks at Christie Lake

Since I am clearly hooked on creating rice paper birds, I have to ask how to move such birds into the world? While it is true that a handful of people have one or two such birds flying in their windows, I want to create sky-fulls of them. I like putting them together on a window, a branch, a translucent screen and creating a pattern of movement. Flocks, families, communities of birds winging their way to an imagined sky. This led to “An Exultation of Larks” created last spring. I like seeing how they look in different venues, during different seasons, in the mornings or the afternoons or on the light of a sombre day.

This fall, I have purchased a quantity of plexiglass, cut in a whole variety of sizes as well as some glue that works well with plexi-glass (but has toxic vapours). Above you can see my first two experiments, done on 8 x 8 pieces of plexiglass. I will try sealing them with glue at the edges. (Up until now, I have been using screws.) I prefer to have no frame around the birds as I like the illusion that they can fly off into the sky. However, I also hope to experiment with real glass, circles, and thin copper or silver frames with help from a local stained glass artist.

I am currently working with a long rectangular piece measuring 28″ x 8″ and loving the challenge.

My art show, entitled “Taking Flight: An Exploration of Birds and Other Flying Creatures in the Art of Sue Bland” took place Mother’s Day Weekend (May 11 and 12, 2013) in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan.

I learned that to mount an art show – and especially one called “Taking Flight”, I had to stay pretty darn grounded! It was definitely hard work, and absolutely full of joy for me. I was so thrilled that so many of all ages chose to hang around, drink some tea and make some beautiful art. Many beautiful rice paper birds, butterflies, snakes and pictures were created by folks from age 3 to age 88! Numerous people helped me but I would especially like to thank the volunteers at the Qu’Appelle Valley Centre of the Arts, and my family, especially Shane and Jessie and Marina.

On Sunday morning, the first hour was very quiet, so I sat in the gallery, listened to music and looked around. Some of the art in the room comes from 25 years ago, and I have never seen my art at all in one place before. I could see that as well as a fascination with birds and other flying creatures, there is both movement and colour in my art which has remained consistent over the years. I had never noticed this before. I have not yet finished my explorations of “Taking Flight” in the form of blog posts, but I hope to. (See former posts Taking Flight 1, 2 and 3). The art show perhaps marked a starting point for further exploration of the flight theme.

I have chosen 15 photos for this post – you can see the entire collection in Past PLAYshops, Shows and Sales. Most of the photos are courtesy of Susan Sorenson and Cherie Westmoreland. I thank them both.