Sunday, January 22, 2012


It was a day for "arting with Effy" during COA and playing with supplies and techniques.

Chickadees have been my favorite bird since I was 5 years old so it only seemed fitting that he would make an appropriate subjuect for my watercolor practice.

My chickies on the next page were the result of my trying some dripage with watered-down acrylic paints and then letting the images "talk" to me. The little orange chickies appreared out of nowhere on the page just like the little birds at the top of the page sitting on the fence posts. Sorry they got cut off a little in the scan. It just seemed to me like the "very formal" little chickadee was looking over to the three little chicks on the next page and saying,

"What's happenin' over there? Stop looking at the ground. Look up. Spread your wings, little chickies. Get ready to fly!"

And while I was working on the lettering I remembered loving the springtime in Oregon when the chickadees, the junkos, and the barn swallows would be lined up on the power line that ran from the garage to the house. Those babies were all taking turns learning how to fly with the mamas and the papas swooping around showing them how it is done.

Inspiration: images from the internet, Donna Downey, Effy Wild, Tangie Baxter, and Sandra van der Geest.

3 comments:

Kel said...

very cute little creatures have emerged on your page here Kay

it's nice to hear the story behind your work

chickadees were a delight for us when we had our first ever white xmas trip in nth america last year
they followed us around as we went cross country skiing

Tania said...

Hi Kay
Just loving your spreads (thanks to Effy, who introduced you to me).

You and Effy are a great inspiration to my book of days.
Can't wait to see more.
Regards, Tania

Unknown said...

thanks Kel and Tania so much for taking a peek at my posts