Crazy for Birds

Tremar Potteries Ltd, Cornwall Long Tailed Tit

I love birds. Long before it was popular to slap the ubiquitous bird logo onto everything I was in love with birds. I find them beautiful. My grandmother gifted me with her love of birds. One of my first memories as a child is working in her garden, helping her fill the birdbath with water and the feeders with seed. To my grandmother, birds were a part of her life, and her responsibility. To me, they were amazing, beautiful, delicate. She took great pride in recognizing, naming and categorizing the birds in her backyard. I benefited greatly.
At seven years old, I became a member of the Audubon Society, collecting pictures, creating journals, and tracking the birds I had seen. As an adult in England I set up special feeders to lure the incredibly beautiful British Blue Tit to my kitchen window, began my collection of stone and porcelain birds (see above) and carried my British birdwatching book and a set of binoculars in my car.
Today, my heart beats a little faster when I spot the brilliant yellow of the Western Oriole in my own backyard, or the perfect graphic stripes and dots of our local Cactus Wren. Birds inspire me.

 Every day I am inspired by one of my most prized possessions, this fantastic collaborative painting by Maria Rose and E.K. Wimmer. The regal Peacock, brilliantly painted, captured, but cage-less!

...and imagine my delight when I recently opened a surprise package from Maria and E.K. to find I had been gifted this beautiful artwork by Maria!

I was crazy for this sculpture the minute I first saw it posted on her blog, but never imagined it would be my good fortune to have it to admire every day. I love the delicate silhouette (Maria is all about silhouettes! See here and the fantastical "rose" tail. I want to write a story about this bird...!

My love of birds inspires my own artwork. Here is a sneak peek....

More soon!!!