Tag Archives: birds in flight

Something about birds

What is it about birds? I love watching birds…. birds at the feeder, birds flying by, especially flocks of birds. On occasion, I try to paint the birds I see in a realistic way, but more often I create colourful birds of the imagination, birds from faraway tropics, birds with hairdos, eye rings…improbable birds. As far back I can remember, I have painted, drawn, sculpted, collaged and colored these fanciful birds.

Our spring has been unfolding slowly, with many false starts and sunny days that tease. Outside these past two weeks, we have had many gray and overcast days. Inside, I have been immersed in a world of colourful and wild birds in tangled gardens. It is as if another spring is blooming inside me! When I make a rice paper birds and arrange them between sheets of plexiglass or when I paint birds, It feels as if these birds reside inside in me, too many to count, and as they are created, they fly free in paint and ink, in collage papers. Why I love to paint fanciful birds, I do not know. They are a happy mystery to me. I feel as though I could create birds forever! Look below for my recent spring pieces followed by  an assortment of other birds in flight from years gone by.

" Spring Bursting Forth", watercolour and inks, 18" x 24"

” Spring Bursting Forth”, watercolour and inks, 18″ x 24″

20160403_144534 20160403_144653 - Version 2 20160403_144710 - Version 2 20160403_144742 20160403_14492020160325_204849 20160325_204859 20160325_204906 20160325_204918 20160326_06435520160326_064453DSC_0153 - Version 14 DSC_0198 - Version 2 DSC_0227 - Version 11 IMG_0009 IMG_0069 - Version 5 IMG_1248 IMG_1601 IMG_2168 - Version 3 IMG_2316 - Version 10 IMG_2389 - Version 12

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"Tree Blooming Birds", Rice paper Plexiglass Collage, 32" x 40"

“Tree Blooming Birds”, Rice paper Plexiglass Collage, 32″ x 40″

 

An Exultation of Larks!

birds in flight, rice paper and candy wrapper foil

birds in flight, rice paper and candy wrapper foil

A riot of colour

A riot of colour

Noon sun- birds meet theirshadows

Noon sun – birds meet their shadows

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a few of my favourites

a few of my favourites

late afternoon sun shadows

late afternoon sun shadows

A simple mobile. I like watching the birds move.

A simple mobile. I like watching the birds move.

birds in blue bowl in snow

birds in blue bowl in snow

I wanted to try the birds outside, but it was pretty windy, so tried this sheltered tree

I wanted to try the birds outside, but it was pretty windy, so tried this sheltered tree

“Are they really larks, mum?” asked one of my daughters. “No, they are just birds, but I love the phrase “exultation of larks”!  (I also like “a labour of moles” and “a parliament of owls”.)

Apparently, some people think the correct phrase is a “exaltation of larks”.

Although both words mean extreme joy or happiness, exAltation also means to raise up, lift or promote to a higher place or position. ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Latin exsultare, frequentative of exsilire ‘leap up,’ from ex- ‘out, upward’ + salire ‘to leap.’

I enjoy creating these birds. I am also having great fun playing with them – how can I arrange them to give them that sense of flight, of leaping into the air, of exultation?  I have posted some more photos  of these little birds in the Gallery entitled “Recent Work.”