Sketchbook Project 2011

I'm A Scavenger...

Yes, I know. I failed horribly in my effort to post daily/weekly as I said I would earlier.

I signed up for the Sketchbook Project with all kinds of time left for me to finish a one page spread a week with lots of time to do each one at a leisurely pace. It seems as though a pretty butterfly must have flitted past at a bad moment and got me sidetracked and next thing you know I have 3 weeks before the deadline to send.

tsk tsk.

I've never worked on something so furiously before in my life!

I learned how to bind a sketchbook. I did this because I knew there was no way I was ever going to be able to fill all those pages in 3 weeks time and wanted a book with far fewer pages in it. I ended up with 16 full spreads, the front and back inside cover and the front and back outside cover. Had it not been for the three day extension we all got my covers would have been blank, stark raving blank.

*chuckle*

I scanned these so ignore the odd glare and shadow. My pages got a bit 'wrinkly' due to all the moisture I forced upon them and even flattening them out under my monstrously heavy old tv didn't completely help.

I will post the other half of the book on tomorrow's post.

I promise!

Have You All Missed Me?

It's been what, almost 5 months...wait, what!? FIVE months since the last time I posted!

tsk tsk, for shame...

Trust me, I'm shaking my head right along with you. Amazing isn't it.

I think that darned sketchbook project got me so rattled that I didn't dare come back until I had something to show for it.

Hehe, sadly enough I haven't even touched it yet. My Mom always said I worked better under pressure and with the deadline looming large and exceeding fast I can only hope and pray my dear Mother is right.

That being said, however, I have lots and lots of wonderful shiny things with which to share.

Yes indeed for I have been busy...busy ignoring my sketchbook...*chuckle*


I think maybe if I try to post all said shiny things at once my computer will breathe its last breath. You see, part of the problem I have been having is my poor computer is acting like the last dinosaur. It's not even that old, 6 years now, barely a baby. I've tried it all but my poor baby isn't responding as well as it used to...sigh.


What I shall try is diligently (I swear) posting some pics EVERY day for a week. Just to show you all some of what I've been up to.


Now off to the races!

A couple of new big eyed bird paintings in some really fun color combinations!

LOVE the purple and lime green together!

This one is my favorite.

Needed a new (old) avatar pic.

Sooo, did you all spot that really wonderful piece of wood in the background? No? I'll wait, go take another look.

Raise your hands if you've ever driven by a piece of wood lying on the side of the road and wondered if you could make a u-turn and get back to it before anyone else spotted it.

Seriously, I can't be the only one, can I?

hehe

Baby Mockingbirds and How to Care For Them

I remember a time not long ago when a baby mocking bird came into my life and what an adorable little buggar he was.

Not knowing a single thing about mocking birds, heck I didn't even know he was a mocking bird until someone told me, I scoured the internet looking for enlightenment. I thought I would share a little bit of what I found.
The original post is here.


My hungry little man.

Verrrry hungry.


My tribute to the wonderful mocking bird. This is Percy and his little brother Lionel.

They are headed over to the shop soon.


The following is just some of the great information I've stumbled across on how to care for not only baby mocking birds but any baby bird you happen to come across.

Most babies are still under the watchful eye of their parents and are taken from them by people only trying to help. Unlike human babies, wild babies are not constantly watched by their parents and spend large amounts of time alone. (This is especially true of mammals.) In most cases, wild animal babies should be left alone. The following is what we recommend to do in specific situations. BABY BIRDS FLEDGLINGS People often see baby birds that are partially feathered sitting on the ground below a tree and automatically assume that they fell out of the nest and need to be helped. At this stage in a birds development, they are considered "fledglings".

Fledglings NORMALLY will jump or fall out of the nest. This is their "flight training" stage. The mother bird will then continue feeding the bird on the ground until the bird is able to fly (usually only takes a few days). Unless injured, these birds should be left where they are. Efforts should be made to keep cats, dogs, and curious children away from the bird so the mother can continue to feed it.
Cat or Dog Danger? If a dog or cat is threatening the baby animal, do not instantly bring the baby in. Rather, keep the pet restrained the short time the baby is there. However, if the animal has already been attacked or picked up by the family pet and is injured, please bring the baby in as soon as possible.

NESTLINGS Baby birds that are naked for the most part (featherless or feathers just starting to come in) are considered to be "nestlings". These birds stay in the nest and the parents come to feed them there. These babies, when found, are usually on the ground directly below the nest. This occurs either because the baby fell out, blew out (common after wind storms), or was "pushed" out by a sibling. One must realize that this last behavior is actually adaptive for some species. This way, only the strongest of the brood survive and go on to raise young themselves.

What to do if you find a nestling that is out of the nest: The best thing to do is to try to place the bird back in its nest if at all possible. If the nest cannot be reached for some reason, the following works very well. (This is also the procedure to use if you find the whole nest on the ground.)Make a "makeshift" nest out of a clean Cool-Whip container or margarine dish. Make holes in the bottom of it to allow for water drainage. Line the bowl with paper towels. Then tack the makeshift nest back up in the tree as close to the original nest as possible. Finally, place the baby bird(s) into this and leave. The parents will usually come back in a short time and will feed the babies in it just like it was the original nest. (Often, you will see the mother going back and forth between each "nest", feeding both sets of babies.) The only time we recommend bringing the baby birds in is if you KNOW that the mother is dead or if the babies are injured in any way. The natural parents do a much better job at raising their young than we could ever do. A baby bird that is featherless must be fed every 15-20 minutes from about sunrise to 10 pm! This obviously requires a large time committment on the part of the foster parent. What if I already touched the birds, the mother won't come back, will she? People often believe this to be true and therefore think they need to keep the babies. This is simply NOT TRUE and is just an old wives tale. Birds in general have a very poor sense of smell (vultures are one exception) and will not mind the fact that you have handled them (but will be bothered by your presence by the babies).
If you do find a REAL orphan or injured baby bird, please do the following: Get it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator AS SOON AS POSSIBLE; the longer the delay, the less chance it has of surviving Keep the baby bird WARM and in a quiet, dark place until you can bring it in (a small cardboard box works well) DO NOT give the baby bird any liquids (they get all they need from their food and very often will inhale any liquid)
Source(s):
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/guideto.htm#2b

What I found for hand feeding my little man worked quite well and was easily available if you have a pet store near by. It's made by Kaytee and is formulated specifically for hand feeding baby birds. I got mine at Petsmart.

Fresh Artwork Thursday Week #3

It doesn't matter how much you insist that it is really Friday today, no really...I swear it's only Thursday simply because I said I would do a post EVERY Thursday so today IS Thursday.

You get my logic now don't you?

Actually I believe I have a fairly decent reason. Granted I waited until right before I was going to get into bed to post it but my darn computer decided to totally freeze up on me and the call of my bed was ever so much louder than my curses flung towards the computer.

That being said I actually have fresh artwork to share, yippee!

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Two more round pages have finally made their way home. This first one had to travel all the way to Spain but he (she?) finally arrived.

The theme here was India.

What I don't know about India could fill several football fields so I had to do a little research on the subject and when I stumbled across some clipart done by an amazing artist Pieter Weltevrede at the Sanatan Society who are ever so kind as to offer up this particular piece royalty free.

All I did was draw it out as best I could within the confines of my round page and then used my colored pencils. I love the soft colors.

The next theme was flying soaring.

The birds wing actually comes out away from his body to give it a more 3-d feel.

Lime green anyone?

I think that almost everything I do HAS to have a little of this color somewhere in it. I told you, I have a fascination/addiction to this color!

Another Baby Bird to Add To The Roster and a Challenge

I must really be a magnet for baby birds!

This one came to me by way of bad little Emily who insists on being a hunter no matter what I tell her. I think she just wants to play but my goodness.Do you see how insanely tiny he is? I was hoping that I could identify what species he is but I'm just not sure.

For being quite young he's got insanely bushy old man brows, dontcha think, hehe.
I had just finished little Howard here the day the little bird came into my life and I just love how I accidentally caught them both in the same exact pose...well, without the bushy eyebrows.

Little mobile home, always on the go.

Home being a little more permanent with these little guys. Itty bitty chubby houses.

On another note, today is June 1st and I've decided that I'm going to start something a little new and different. A challenge to myself if you will. I want to start something along the lines of art 365 or art a day although knowing that would be far too ambitious for me I will settle for at least one new artwork each week.

I would love some company along this journey for anyone willing to join in. A challenge to be creative and post it!

I'm thinking maybe Thursdays would be a good day, at least to start.

I may need a good swift kick from time to time, you know, to keep me on my toes!

What say you?

Easter Bunny Bird

Can't believe I captured the Easter Bunny!! Who knew......hehe.

Happy Easter!

I hope that everyone is having a fabulous Easter!

I've been a bad blogger of late but with the best intentions. Though this last week has seen me hit hard with a bout of pneumonia that still seems to be lingering. It's little things like this that make you realize how fortunate we are for simple things like antibiotics, a soft pillow and something 'anything' to watch on the television when we are feeling our worst. Not to mention chicken noodle soup, an absolute staple in this household although it was oranges that I craved after 4 days of being unable to eat anything at all.

I will attempt to make it all up to you with lots of pictures this go around.

A friend brought me this lovely "stump" of grass that made its way into a photo shoot with some new birds and friends.
Spencer.

Little Nilla.
Maya

Ralphie holding little Emily.

Did I mention that I went to see 'Alice In Wonderland? No? I highly recommend this movie...highly!

I was extremely motivated by it.

The Cheshire Cat.


My version of Alice herself holding the White Rabbit.

Sweet little pin set.

Come Meet The Girls!

Happy pretty little birds are we.

Dear Winifred likes to write letters, especially on typewriters. She doesn't like all that newfangled gadgetry.

Sweet sweet little Olivia. She likes to play dress up.

Little Harriet has an affinity for pears. Especially little green not-quite-ripe ones.

Georgia loves those little sweet hearts. You know the ones with the cute little sayings on them. The kind you always got for Valentine's Day. Hers says simply "Be Mine".

Mardi Gras Fever And A Bird To Prove It!

I used to go.

Back in the day.

Went with a different group of fun loving people each time and couldn't believe having so much fun in such a wonderfully bizarre way was even possible.

How I miss it.

No, I won't (can't) share the pictures I took, hehe.

Soo, in honor of those lost times (and film) I present to you Herman!

He's all masked up and ready to Mardi Gras!
Throw me some beads mister!

Not Enough Time and Far Too Many Things

I'm still trying to figure this one out. Both Cooper and Emily were sound asleep when I wandered over with the camera and only opened their eyes when the heard the camera making noises. How in the world Emily got where she was is just beyond my comprehension. Silly little pill.

I've got lots of new work done but have been struggling lately with the camera and in trying to get good pictures lately.
I've been attempting to get one good spot set up (permanently) for all my picture taking and nothing I do seems to be working. Needless to say it's led to some very frustrating times.

I would LOVE to see a shot of your set up if you are so inclined to share...please!

Pierre and Simone. Named after my rescue Hamsters that I have totally fallen in love with! Don't you just love their little berets?

Clairee, named after the third Hamster. She's just a little darling. Both the hamster and this adorable little bird.

Little Stevie.

This is Palmer who decided that the "normal" party hats weren't for him and decided to don a pine tree for a hat instead. This little guy has gone to his new home in Barcelona Spain.

I wonder if he'll learn a new language.

This is Wallace.

Last but not least. My mobile home. I combined the big eyed birds with the chubby houses. I feel like a genetic engineer, hehe.

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On a really really happy note, I got a new (to me) jacuzzi for the back yard yesterday and it just now dawned on me that I missed a great photographic opportunity in NOT taking a picture of the GIANT crane that came to my house to move it...dangit!

My neighbor is moving and decided to sell me her jacuzzi as she couldn't take it with her. It's a 6 person jacuzzi so it wasn't something we could just lift up and move, hence the giant sized crane.

I'm just waiting for cooler weather so we can run the electricity needed to run it up through the attic and over to it.

I. simply. can't. wait!

A Small Offering Today and Emily

I see that I have again let time wander away from me but at least I was "semi" productive this time, hehe.
I've been working on getting some illustrations fit for buttons and pocket mirrors for, hopefully, a small craft fair coming up that I may or may not be involved in. Well shoot, let's be totally ambiguous about this shall we.

I love this happy little guy.

Finally got some small 1 inch buttons done in the bird folk. I've got some really neat things planned for more of these guys too.

Now let's go a little darker shall we, after all Halloween is just right around the corner and we all know how much I love the dark side of things.

Not so bad you say. It's just an antatomical heart.

Well, it seems as though George here has been wearing it on his sleeve looking for the woman of his dreams.

Fred was found wandering around the park looking for a snack. Unfortunately only this will do.

That's right, brains! And yours looks mighty tasty!

Loudly proclaim your love of the undead. You know you want to!

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Now let's discuss one small reason I've been so lax lately. The kitten. She was supposed to go elsewhere but has totally managed to worm her way in here tighter than a drum. And not with just me. With even the most hardcore disbelievers around.

When she's not snuggling up to the guinea pigs, (that's right, you heard correctly) this is where she is more often than not. Curled right up next to Cooper on Cooper's bed.

No, they aren't comfortable in the least. This is now officially Emily... and she is a pill.

Oh and stay tuned. I have lots of works in progress coming up VERY soon, hehe.