Still in love with steel. I found this nice sheet of polished steel and after the initial shock of seeing my own reflection, I was inspired to paint today’s Bird-A-Day art. The idea of seeing yourself in another’s reflection made me think about my niece, Meghan Dickerson who will be getting married later this evening. I want to wish Meghan and Joey Smith a strong and bright future together. Joey – welcome to the family.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art was inspired by my awesome, new office chair. I work at Imaginuity Interactive, a cool, fun digital design agency in Dallas. And this week they gave everyone sweet, styling new chairs. It was while I was unpacking my new chair, like a kid at Christmas, that I was inspired by this packing foam. Just having fun – creating. No instructions required. Enjoy.
Recently, we decided to get better organized and did some thorough house cleaning. Along the way, we came across some fun fabric that was left over from the time my wife, made custom pillows for our sofa. The pillows are really cool. And I just love the colors and patterns of this fabric. I like it so much, that it inspired today’s Bird-A-Day art. Enjoy.
We have a large tree next to our driveway that is suffering from a bad case of dandruff. Our car windshields and driveway are dusted in this strange yellow stuff. And so today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by mother natures’ dry branch disorder. Enjoy.
Yes, I am dragging out my dirty laundry. Doh! Or should I say, Dodo! While preparing to wash my whites, I was carrying my socks to the washing machine and when I laid down the towel filled with my dirty socks, this Dodo bird, walked right out. Like the Dodo bird, this fella is now extinct. Meaning clean and white again. You can stop holding your nose now.
Sunday night was Pizza night. After a great Arts Goggle weekend, my wife and I stayed home and enjoyed some pizza while watching the Billboard Music Awards. After devouring the last two slices of pizza, I found today’s Bird-A-Day art – waiting to fly out. Enjoy.
Today’s Bird-A-Day was inspired by shopping for shoes. After buying a new pair of shoes on Saturday, I was about to throw away the box and that paper stuffing from the new shoes – when inspiration struck. I like how the shoe box is like a shadow box. And so I took the black stuffing from my new shoes and twisted it into a black crane. The whole experience makes me want to do some more shopping. Enjoy.
Another great find in the garage. These are surplus bathroom tile stones from our home addition project several years ago. These little river stones now line the walls of the master shower and the surplus, kept for any repair work, has become today’s Bird-A-Day Art. Hope to see some of you at today’s Fort Worth Arts Goggle. Enjoy.
A lucky find in the garage. I found this old piece of distressed wood that inspired today’s Bird-A-Day art. At first I wasn’t sure what kind of bird would be at home on this old piece of wood. But then it was obvious that it had to be a bird from the country. My salute to early wake up calls. Enjoy.
Just in time for this weekends Fort Worth Arts Goggle. Today’s Bird-A-Day art was created with a number of hand cut lino-blocks and then printed onto aluminum. I just love aluminum for its ambient surface. The way that it reflects its environment with a soft, dream like effect. And the surface handles block printing beautifully. Enjoy.
Saturday is the annual Fort Worth Arts Goggle. And I will have a selection of Bird-A-Day art from my blog, at one of the local Fort Worth South Side businesses. Everyone is invited to drop by and check out that art show at J.O. Creative, in Fort Worth.
Here is a link from J.O. Creative about this weekends art show:
http://www.jodesign.com/2012/05/goggle-baby-goggle-baby-goggle/
Here is more about the Fort Worth Arts Goggle:
http://www.fortworthsouth.org/community/events/arts-goggle/
Our backyard needed more mulch, so we decided to add a splash of color and go with the red mulch. We’re artists we can do such things. It’s almost expected. Afterwards, we’re not so sure about it. Especially, since our lab Maddie decided she really likes the new red mulch. Now why do dogs think they can eat anything? Who knew that red mulch looked like Purina or that it would end up as performance art on our studio floor. Thanks Maddie. But, hey at least the new mulch was perfect for creating today’s Bird-A-Day art.
While walking through the halls of a certain large building in Fort Worth, which will remain nameless. I happened to see a string with clips hanging on it, outside a person’s office door. Apparently, they were subconsciously wanting some bird art. And being a generous artist, I took them up on their invitation to create Today’s Bird-A-Day art. Enjoy.
This is a case of recycling art, not recycled art. What I mean by that is, today’s Bird-A-Day art was formerly a lovely landscape painting. However, this old landscape never found a home and so it ended up in the “to-be-tossed” stack. These things happen. However, this old landscape painting has found a new life as part of my art blog project. As a bird. These things happen as well. And I have decided to make it my job to make these things happen – more often. Enjoy.
After accidentally scratching a sheet of metal, I was inspired to scratch it again, on purpose. Today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by the way that metal shines when it gets scratched. I just happen to have a stainless steel scourer pad, left over from another art experiment, which was a perfect tool for scratching in today’s bird. I loved the thin feather like line quality of the wire scratching. This was to fun for just one bird, I will have to revisit this again later. Enjoy.
Sitting at my desk yesterday, I was inspired to add today’s Bird-A-Day art to my office whiteboard. I really enjoy my new whiteboard and I like the line quality of the markers. And besides – my whiteboard seemed to be asking for a little hand-made, creativity. So I drew this guy at the end of the day and another fun week at work. Enjoy.
Here is a bird that I have worked at for a while actually. Under the painted surface are many layers of unusual mixed media, like joint compound from the hardware store. Layer upon layer, I kept experimenting with different types of paints, tools and products to create today’s Bird-A-Day art. Enjoy.
Something sweet for my sweetheart! Today is my sweetheart’s birthday. Happy Birthday baby! Tonight, we have reservations at her very favorite restaurant in the whole, wide, world! She already knows. No big secret. I had to tell her, because at first she didn’t want to go out for dinner on her birthday. We eat out to much as it is. And this is true. But, a tiny slice of France, right here in Texas, was just too tempting to pass up. In the meanwhile, today’s Bird-A-Day art is a small token of my love for the most wonderful woman in my world. xxxxxxooooo
This is one thirsty bird. While sitting at a local burger joint having my diet coke, the impulse struck me to make a bird. So while sitting there, watching some basketball playoffs on the flat screens, I slowly peeled away today’s Bird-A-Day art. You’ll never guess what sports grill that was. Cheers.
While storing some over-flow art in the attic, this guy flew past me. He clearly wanted to join the blog. There was no other explanation for this sort of attic activity. I just seem to attract the oddest collection of birds these days. Enjoy.
Monday’s bird is bubbling over. My wife and I were cleaning out the house on Sunday and along the way, I found a few odds and ends that inspired new bird ideas. One of those odd finds being the bubble wrap from the time we had shipped some of her paintings to New York for an art show. So this humble little stuff that kept her art safe there and back, has found a new life as today’s Bird-A-Day art. Please don’t pop the art. Enjoy.
Found art. That is the best way I can describe today’s Bird-A-Day art. I found this old table covered in years of painters drops and messes and used it as the soul of this bird art. Lately, I have been considering the idea of a series of artworks based purely on using left-over remnants from artists studios. The process of creating artwork leaves behind all sorts of wonderful, expressive, textural, mixed-media imagery. And it seems a shame not to do something to capture some of that creative, working experience as another form of art. If you would like to be part of it, let me know. It would be great fun to collaborate with others artists in this way.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art was inspired by TCU professor of art and Coordinator of MFA program, Jim Woodson. He has taught painting at TCU since 1974. Inspired generations of artists and made life-long friendships with everyone of them. Last night, my wife Allie and I were guest at his retirement party. It was a sweet and sad occasion. Seeing his home filled to over-flowing with friends and admirers from his iconic career at TCU. He is without a doubt, the kindest man I have ever met. He inspires everyone around him, without saying a word. He is irreplaceable. Jim Woodson is beyond a great, master painter, he is a man who forever changed the lives of thousands of artists. I know that he has changed the life of my wife, Allie Regan Dickerson, who as her mentor and teacher has elevated her art to new heights. And like many thousands of others whose life he has touched, I am forever thankful.
Back to playing games. Here is one of my favorite games from childhood. Marbles. I loved getting my knees dirty and mixing it up with the other guys on the school yard. Back in grade school, I can remember thinking how beautiful marbles looked. And today, I still find them to be one of the most beautiful games in the world. Enjoy.
This is a big bird. It’s about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It is a large black illustration board that my wife had used as a backdrop when she would gesso her canvases. I just love the worn surface and it seemed to beg for a large crow drawing. I could have sworn it was telling me to draw on it. So I grabbed some chalk and pastel and created today’s Bird-A-Day art. Enjoy.
You never want to roll cat eyes when playing Monopoly. But ironically, cat eyes make for a perfect bird eye. Today’s Bird-A-Day art was created from Monopoly game parts. Creating this bird reminded me of when I played this game as a boy. I had pretty good luck winning the small green houses, but not so much with the large red hotels. And I remember having a favorite game piece. I loved the metal car, like the one forming the leg on today’s Bird Art. But then of course, having two older brothers, that car was at the center of more than a few fights – before we ever rolled the first dice. Enjoy.
Game on. I had this idea of making art birds from some of my favorite games, including board games. I will have to admit, I cheated on today’s Bird-A-Day art. I had never even heard of a Tui or Ashy bird. But, hey, what’s an iPhone with Siri for if you can’t use it? I discovered hundreds and hundreds of bird names, but very few that begin with the letter N. So if you ever want to win at bird scrabble, just put the letter N down. Enjoy.
I have decided to start the week off with a hot idea. Today’s Bird-A-Day art was inspired by the lighter fluid for my grill. It suddenly occurred to me that I could draw a bird with the lighter fluid and create a “Fire Bird.” So last night after the sun went down, I did just that. Enjoy.
It’s a good day to get out the crayons. And I have boxes and boxes of them. There are so many crayon colors these days it’s almost hard to decide where to start. As a matter of fact, I decided not to color at all. The rainbow of crayon sticks inspired today’s Bird-A-Day art. Does this qualify for coloring outside the lines? Enjoy.
While sitting in my backyard, I noticed the tree shadows falling across the large flagstone blocks, which inspired today’s Bird-A-Day art. I used some of the lava rocks that outline the flagstone on my back patio to create this moment of a rock bird sitting on a shadow branch. Enjoy.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art was inspired in my wife’s class studio, while I was waiting for her to get out of critique. I happened to find a charcoal stick left on one of the class studio tables and had a little fun to pass the time. And at the same time, it was my chance to leave a little memory as I head into the last weeks of the spring semester. Enjoy.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art a good excuse to play with watercolor paints. A favorite children’s book illustrator of mine is Eric Carle. I love the way he cuts painted paper into animals shapes. His best-selling book, “Very Hungry Caterpillar” was created with his colorful cut papers. While this is certainly no Eric Carle, is was a lot fun to make. Enjoy.
If you hang around long enough, it’s possible to find a bird in everything. And everywhere. Like the closet. Where I found inspiration for today’s Bird-A-Day art. The irony here is that today’s art, made of hangers, can never be hung. And yes, this bird is back in my closet now. Does that make my closet an art gallery or a bird-cage? Enjoy.
On this past Saturday, I created the Paint Tube Bird. So you if you saw that bird, you might have guessed this guy would happen. My wife suggested the idea to me. Her old paint tubes had blown their tops and in the process, have given me two – fun, creative birds. Enjoy.
After visiting the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum recently, I was inspired by the abstract expressionist Clyfford Still. An interesting art fact, is Clyfford Still taught art at college and one of his famous pupils was Mark Rothko. Rothko is another favorite of mine. Clyfford Still’s colors, surface quality and edges inspired today’s Bird-A-Day art. I used oil paints and several different palette knives instead of brushes to create the overall surface quality. Enjoy.
It’s another lovely weekend here in Texas. All the plants are green, flowers are blooming, butterflies are fluttering. That sounds like something butterflies do. Flutter! I’m Just enjoying the backyard and about to refill the bird bath, when I look down at the decorative stones in the bowl…..and think to myself. What a perfect place for today’s Bird-A-Day art. Enjoy.
After sleeping in on a beautiful Saturday morning, I was stumbling around my wife’s art studio when inspiration hit. There on top of her artist table of brushes, palettes, and mixing knives were these old, twisted tubes that had sadly, blown their tops. Something about the dried paint and the twisted tubes looked oddly beautiful to me in the morning light. Enjoy.
I am always hungry. And always playing with my food. What’s up with that? Today’s Bird-A-Day art is fresh – from the frozen food section. Just a little guy but tasty. Bon Appetit.
Always experimenting with new art media and surfaces, today’s Bird-A-Day art was inspired by a cool new find. I found something called a Wood Stain Pen. And it’s basically a marker, filled with wood stains, in all the basic wood colors, used to touch-up of scratches in furniture. I like the way the pen bleeds into the grain of this Balsa wood. Afterwards, I placed this little guy on top of the water fountain in my backyard. The fountain attracts birds. The kind of birds with feathers. I thought my new bird needed company. Enjoy.
I started a new job this week. Totally awesome! And so while I was rummaging through the boxes of old stuff from my old office, I came across an old map. And then I happened to notice that South America, has a shape that reminds me of “a bird”. Imagine me seeing that in there! So I’ve decided to pin this map to the world of art. Enjoy.
I was clearing away some old bricks from my back yard – when suddenly, I was struck with a bird idea. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was admiring the rough surface and subtle tones of this old brick. So, rather than toss it away, I grabbed my pastels and turned this brick into my canvas for today’s Bird-A-Day art. Enjoy.
I could have titled this little guy Stew Bird. Sunday afternoon, my wife offered to make beef stew. I thought her idea was brilliant. My humble contribution was to peel potatoes. While peeling, I was inspired to play around on the cutting board and create today’s Bird-A-Day art. And yes, the stew was yummy!!!!
Today’s Bird-A-Day is inspired by a beautiful piece of steel found at my local Home Depot. I was picking up some things for the house, when I saw a display of random steel cuts at the end of an aisle. This particular piece caught my eye. I loved rough surface and little touch of rust. So inspired, I drew and cut new block print birds to create this moment of taking flight. Enjoy.
I like ice tea. Unsweetened. But with two packets of Sweet-N Low. Last night, my wife and I were visiting a friend in Dallas and afterwards stopped off at the Belmont’s Smoke House for some dessert. Dessert was my brilliant idea. While sampling some of their finest plates of pure calories, I decided to make the moment more memorable with a little bird art. Cheers.
Last night around 9pm, after teaching my class at TCU, I went to visit my wife in her art studio. She was still in her MFA studio critique at the time. So I wandered about her painting classroom while I waited. I always love visiting her class and studio space. Every square foot is covered with great splatters of paints that never made it onto anyone’s canvas. The chairs, tables, cabinets, and floor are all one large mixed media piece, ready to be put on exhibit. And of course, since I suffer from the later stages of “Birds on the Brains”, I had a bird idea. So today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by my wife’s art studio at TCU. What a fun, creative, inspiring space. Enjoy.
When I arrived home yesterday I found a ton of these seed droppings all over the back yard and driveway. We have a gigantic, old pecan tree in the backyard. And it seems to have shaken loose every seed from its new head of leaves. I found this cluster of seeds sitting on one of the many flagstones in our backyard. Today’s Bird-A-Day art is an odd species, because it can fly, but only down. And only once. Enjoy.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art might need a bit more visualization effort than usual. While moving tools in my garage, these “peg hooks” caught my eye. At some point, I realized that there was a bird wanting to be found. And so with the head strong determination of a handyman I kept shuffling these peg hooks around, until I found it. Can you? Enjoy.
Don’t cry. That’s what I’ve always been told. About spilling milk. But then why would I cry about that, it seems silly. So when I was enjoying a hot fresh cookie with cold milk and knocked over my cup, I realized why someone might cry – over spilt milk. You can’t dip cookies in spilt milk. Enjoy.
This weekend, my wife and I visited the Amon Carter Museum to see a rare exhibition of Singer Sargent paintings. He is one of our favorite artist. Afterwards, we visited the museum store where I found a wonderful tin can of magnets. Today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by our museum visit. I used these colorful, magnet shapes to create a cool bird on my refrigerator. Enjoy
Wow. The first 100 birds have flown by. A mere 265 days left in my “News Year’s Resolution” to create a new work of art every day in 2012. Besides day 100, today is Easter Sunday. Growing up, this was a big day for Easter egg hunts in the yard. And always the perfect excuse to talk mom and dad into buying me some new Sunday clothes. I recall one Easter Sunday, when my new, brightly colored, orange and red PLAID suit, made me look more like the hunted than the hunter. Enjoy.
Gliding across a silvery lake of pulp, today’s little pop-up swan was inspired by my wife. She had suggested the idea of a pop-up bird. And so after a little experimentation with different bird shapes and papers, I was pretty happy with today’s Bird-A-Day art. Enjoy.
Crayons are not exactly the first art medium that comes to mind for most contemporary artist. But luckily, I’m not a contemporary artist. I’m just a guy having fun being creative. And my only rule is no rules. After coloring outside the lines for a while, today’s warm weather gave me an idea. So I did something that would have – without a doubt – got me sent home early from school, when I was a kid. I melted my crayons! Oh the humanity. Oh the smell. Oh the fun.
Yes I did. I took the old pillow case from day 96 for today’s Bird-A-Day art. I’ve wanted to experiment with image transfers. And I used this organic natural cleaner called Citrasolv from my local Sprouts store as a chemical transfer agent and played with a photocopy of a monoprint. Talk about an odd couple. Mixing these different art mediums together with an old pillow case is worth trying out sometime. If you are so inclined. You might want to sleep on it. Enjoy.
Pillow fight anyone? What to do with an old pillow found in the closet? Hmmmm. Bird! Anything that isn’t nailed down or being used – is officially fair game this year. Today’s Bird-A-Day art is made from the shredded stuffings of this old pillow. That was to fun. Now, what to do with the old pillow case? Hmmmmm.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by one of my favorite artists, Cy Twombly. His work is a favorite of mine because he blurred the line between drawing and painting. Drawing for me has always come as natural as breathing, while painting – has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever attempted. So just to be clear, this is not a painting. Today’s Bird Art is just one of my latest drawings. Enjoy.
A rare bird on the endangered species list. Today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by the idea of never wearing a neck tie again. This out-dated notion of business attire may in the not to distant future, disappear from the landscape of client presentations. Vanishing from our memory, right along side, white-out for the “type-writer.” While I have a nice collection of these rare species, I would willingly let them fly away into the great unknown.
What an incredibly bright, sunny day here in Texas. So bright it almost made my eyes hurt. And it gave us some very strong shadows. I love shadows. I love exploring the patterns and imaginary shapes within cast shadows, the way some people enjoy reading clouds. And these beautiful shadows inspired today’s Bird-A-Day art. I cut out a simple bird shape from a sheet of paper, “duct” taped it to a twig and played shadow games. Enjoy.
Last night at the movies, my wife and I watched The Hunger Games. Each week, we take turns picking movies and last night was her turn to pick. No, I did not have the Hunger Games on my wish list. I was hoping for Battle of the Titans which ironically she did not pick. And I went expecting to NOT like it. For me, it was over-hyped and the characters didn’t appeal to me. But – at the end, when the win…..(I won’t say what happens)…. and my wife looked at me and asked, what did you think? I grinned a bit, and had to admit, it was pretty good. And – I MIGHT, POSSIBLY, COULD, even consider putting the next Hunger series on my future movie wish list. But I’m not going to say. All that I will say is today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by The Hunger Games. Enjoy.
Yes I like Mondrian. But then who doesn’t like his grid of bold colors against white. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t like what I have done with today’s Bird-A-Day art. But, I just couldn’t help myself. Enjoy.
I love rubber bands. Especially colorful rubber bands. I have been known to shoot one or two across the office from time to time. But today I decided to use these hard-working, playful rings to create today’s Bird-A-Day art. And now, let the office games begin. Enjoy.
More fun on metal. I just love working with aluminum for a canvas. Expect more metal as the year goes on. Today’s Bird-A-Day art was created using acrylic paint and my trusty block printing birds on a thin sheet of metal. The birds on a wire is a theme that I could do all year-long. Enjoy.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art was inspired when I came across some shipping boxes with stencil type. It gave me the idea of cutting out a bird stencil. And then of course grabbing some spray paint and having fun. Which I did. There are plenty of things with stencil birds which will not be getting posted. Just kidding. Not! I spray painted this bird on the back of an unused piece of kitchen tile. Enjoy.
Dining like a star in Hollywood. Today’s Bird-A-Day art was inspired inside a Japanese restaurant in Hollywood California. While visiting family, we discovered this tasty popular place just a block off the main boulevard. After walking what seemed like a marathon, I ordered their largest lunch special, the Samuri Delux. This place is famous for their teriyaki sauce and afterwards I could understand why. This was one very yummy bird. Enjoy.
For everyone who has worked hard, we celebrate a tireless office worker. Today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by the humble push pin. Always ready to hold up anything we need for as long as we tell it. Now why I never thought of buying purple push pins until making today’s Hummingbird art, is beyond me. Enjoy.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art was inspired on our walk in New Port Beach, California. I came across this little guy, just a broken off piece of sea weed that was ready to fly away. Our few days in California have been one of the most memorable trips ever. A big, big thank you – Michael and Deb for sharing your home and favorites spots with Allie and myself. You are the best! Enjoy.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art was found on a beautiful beach in Crystal Cove, California. My wife and I are in California visiting family and they took us to one of their favorite spots in Newport Beach. We all had fun finding and making birds on the beach. This big bird is my favorite one of the day. Made out of sea weeds washed up on the beach, I used a sea shell for his beak. I called this one a Fla-weedgo. Enjoy.
More leftovers from my camping adventures. When my wife and I traveled to a national state park we didn’t expect to come home with some much food and snacks. We barely touched this bag of marshmallows. Not sure if these treats have a “shelf-life” after being opened, since they’re not really food. But rather than risk it, I made the executive decision to make today’s Bird-A-Day art.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art was discovered after the heavy rains we just had here in Texas. Almost 3 inches of standing water in the backyard. And all these leaves piled up against the fence. After adding a few other leaves to form tail feathers, I was looking at today’s bird art. Enjoy.
You might be asking, what’s a “murmuration?” I did. Well think of it as the original flash mob, dance-off, with thousands of birds. I came across a YouTube video on Starlings, and how these birds move in unison like one large organism in the sky. Science is calling these spectacular transforming patterns a murmuration. And today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by the Starling birds amazing aerial acrobatics. They are breath taking to watch. Do a quick YouTube video search if you haven’t already seen a Starling murmuration yourself. After making a chalkboard with my handy, hobby store liquid chalkboard, I slowly chipped away at forming my own murmuration. Enjoy.
Today’s bird art will never be hung in a Gallery. Because today’s Bird-A-Day art was created by scrubbing hard enough to remove layers of old soil off the concrete wall of a warehouse. It took a lot of something my grandma used to call, “elbow grease” to scrub this bird out of the concrete. I love concrete! I love the way its ages. The unique patterns and tones from exposure to the elements. For me it can be more beautiful than a painting. And so today’s bird art is my way of getting into that “concrete canvas”. If you have a beautiful concrete wall, you want to offer as my next canvas, let me know. Enjoy.
Today’s bird is a found bird. Looking down at the ground I saw this little guy and thought he needed to join my blog. My wife who is an incredible painter, thought this would make a great painting. I agree. It has the simple line quality of a Picasso drawing and elegant proportions of a Giacometti sculpture. Ironic that something so small grabbed my attention and made me smile. Enjoy.
Time to celebrate Ireland. Today’s Bird-A-Day art is a bit of a stretch mind you. Yes I know. It is inspired by one of the icons of Saint Patrick’s day. And so if you are having trouble finding a real shamrock to protect you from getting pinched. I offer you today’s cut paper bird as a last-minute rescue plan. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
Today’s bird art was a happy accident. I was testing out a fun idea of block printing on aluminum instead of paper and just stumbled into today’s Bird-A-Day art. My first surprise was how much I liked the look of printing on a sheet of aluminum. But then when I laid the plate down on the floor in my studio, the lights hit the metal surface and created these beautiful wires of light. I know a gift horse when he walks up and offers me a ride. So I immediately photographed my accidental art to capture my block printed birds, sitting on a wire of light. I only hope that I can keep stumbling into more fun like this. Enjoy.
This is a magical time of year for me. One of my favorite ornamental trees is in full bloom now. Last night as my wife and I walked our dog Maddie, we stopped and picked off a handful of blooms from a row of Ornamental Bradford Pear Trees, lining the street. I just love how these small white flowers transform a tree into an enormous bouquet. But just like girl scout cookies, as soon as they make their annual appearance, they quickly vanish. This year, I determined these Pear Tree blooms will last longer. If only on my blog. Enjoy.
First, I have to apologize to Home Depot for taking more than my fair share of paint chips. But you have to admit, staring at their vivid wall of paint chips really begs for some bird art. Today’s Bird-A-Day art could have been called the Glidden Paint bird. For obvious reasons. But it was really about the concept of paint chips as art. And for me the peacock seemed the ideal bird for such a beautiful range of hues. I might never paint my walls these colors but I do love this palette. Enjoy.
If only you could smell this right “out-of-the-oven” goodness? Hmmm…yummy. Today’s Bird-A-Day art hit the spot after a great home cooked meal. I do have one little bitty sweet tooth. And this sweet chocolate chip bird took care of it. It tasted every bit a good as it looks. One can never get enough edible art in life. Enjoy.
More inspiration from my garage. The idea for this bird art comes from finding an old drawer in my garage. It was one of the original drawers from our 1920′s Tudor home. Something left from our kitchen remodel several years ago. I had been working on an idea of cutting birds out of fall colored leaves and finding this old drawer brought it all together. I made color copies of the leaves so they would last longer and then pinned my leaf-birds inside – like a shadow box. A shadow box with some family history to it. Enjoy
Yesterday’s Bird was drawn from pastels, while today’s was created out of pastel sticks. Here in Texas, it has rained non-stop of late. And all this rain has inspired today’s Bird-A-Day art. One of the only birds to have any fun under these conditions. Enjoy.
Today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by one of my favorite living contemporary artists, Harry Ally. His charcoal drawings of people are rich with many levels of depth and movement on flat surfaces. I can just sit and stare into the space inside his drawings all day long. His masterful line quality and edges mesmerize me. And so stumbling upon some of his recent work online, I got out my pastels to create today’s art. In the spirit of the great one, Harry Ally. Enjoy.
Today is Friday and that means payday for some folks. And today’s Bird-A-Day art is inspired by cold, hard cash. Which is exactly what this Money Bird is made from. Yes, you are looking at real U.S. currency, shredded into little pieces. All for the sake of art. I’m so committed. Now before you jump to any conclusions, you should know that I came across this pile of shredded cash through honest means. I took a guided tour of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving in Fort Worth, Texas. Afterwards, in their presidential gift shop, I decided to give them my money for their old shredded money. Which now that I think about it – sounds really silly. But I got a good deal. I paid $20 dollars for $20,000 shredded dollars. I can’t explain it, but I just had to have a bag of shredded money? It just looked so cool. And it made a pretty cool bird. A cold, hard cash bird. Enjoy.
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