Lucky. ICE 2010 # 7

Title: Lucky. ICE collage # 7

Series: Chain reaction

International Collage Exchange 2010

The number 7 seems to be an appropriate number for a collage about luck! It wasn't intentional, but it must make this extra lucky right? I was inspired by Seth's comment on a previous post about the 2 nests Ihad recently  found. He said (probably jokingly) that finding two nests must be a sign of good luck in some cultures and the words stuck in my head. They floated around there until my husband bought me home TWO more nests and I of course did feel very lucky! I took it as a sign of sorts that it was time for the collage to 'be' and from there it pretty much created itself. I love it when that happens!

In keeping with my 'Chain Reaction' series and the idea of luck I created this collage as a tribute of sorts to my love of birds and nests. Birds do a lot of good in our enviroment, natural regeneration and green pest control being just two of them. I certainly feel lucky to watch them, to hear them, to find their nests but It is not due to luck that we have birds. We don't keep their population in healthy numbers by share good luck. We don't have the pleasure of their dawn songs as a result of luck. We have these things as a result of responsible living and decision making. We need to make choices with the chain reaction in mind.

Below is a photo taken by my front door. I don't know anything about feng shui but I do know that this sight blesses my heart each day! The wild and random looking nest on the top of the box is one of the two nests DH bought home for me. It's it awesome? I  would have loved to see how the little bird made that!

This tiny cup like nest is one of my favorites and was the second one DH bought that home today. He found it in some Avocado trees. It's the most beautiful compact yet lightweight little nest. The outside is covered in moss and cobwebs and under the outside covering there's a 1 cm (half an inch?) thick layer of dry grass and sawdust. The inside is lined with very thin thread like plant fibre. It's adorable. I think it's a native Fantail nest (but not positive) judging by the size and shape of it. I've read they created the nest around themselves turning as they go to create the inside of the cup shaped nest. (Just incase you wanted to know!)

A new feathered friend and some flowers!

Meet my new feathered friend! Ok, not quite feathered...it's scrap coffee dyed paper and thread but still quite adorable if I may say so myself! I made this Fantail yesterday while watching TV with the kids and I'm now in the process of adding it to a collage. I usually avoid illustrating birds because drawing is not my strong point and I am never happy with what I produce. This one makes the grade though! I am quite pleased:)
I opened up the flower press today to see how the flowers I put in before the op were looking (thanks Shari for the reminder!) and I was quite surprised by the results of the dried Kowhai Flowers...or should that be Fallen, dried Kowahi? I didn't dare pick flowers from a protected plant! Honest!

Daisies, forget-me-nots and Kowhai stamens....they went in greenish and came out brown! The yellow kowhai's were a very strong, fresh yellow when pressed and they too went brown. I am not really happy with them (the petal) but I do like the stamens! Unfortunately due my family commitments I have missed most of the flowering season and I havn't had the opportunity to collect enough fresh flowers to make more dye. I will be making this a priority for next year as I really feel this is an unfinished project!

Today as I logged into blogger I noticed that today would be my 300th post....happy 300th! Some of you have been here for nearly all of them too! You know who you are.....sending you all warm fuzzies! Thanks to everyone who's sharing this journey with me, I am blessed!

A new nest! Test run on a new lino cut.

Above: The 'happy accident' technique I found while cleaning up. I didn't use any water this time as it really messes up the serviette!
Below: The first ink print taken from my latest lino cut, a Fantail's nest.
Below that is a rubbing I took from my cut... I will have to keep in mind this technique for creating images too!

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls. Joseph Campbell

I've run out of the laser printed nest image I usually use and rather than get more printed I decided it was time to create something different! This lino cut is going to be of the 2 stage sort...the print forms the bones of what will become a hand coloured nest. I might use coffee or acrylic. Water colours aren't something I've spent much time with so perhaps that will be another road to take a journey along. I can see from my first print that there's still a little bit of work to be done on it, I want to remove some of the high points and thin a line or two out but overall I would have to say I am very happy. Tired too! I draw this in my Visual Diary last night and have spent 4 hours cutting and taking the first test prints today. I wondered if my design was a little ambitious, it's more complicated than what I've done previously but now I am glad I took the step up. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say!

VOTE!!! Telecom Art Awards

If you are in the BAY OF PLENTY region and would like to see Piwakawaka on the cover of the next white pages please follow the link and VOTE for it! Voting starts October 13...http://www.ypgartawards.co.nz/vote.html
THANKYOU :-)