With an eye to the sky....
As I create this collection of work I am inspired by the sense of ethereal beauty and whimsy that birds and flying things evoke.
The ability to fly in the sky is to me the epitome of freedom. The delicate beauty, graceful movements, and vibrant colors of those winged things whose domain is the air, are a delightful joy to witness.
Literal and figurative 'flights of fancy' can help us to transcend the boundaries of our everyday world and glimpse something truly magical.
Welcome to my 'Flights of Fancy'...
The idea for this collection is a direct result of the ideas you all kindly gave about what you'd like to see. A theme started to emerge from the suggestions, that being… birds, butterflies, dragonflies, clouds, flowers etc. So, I've been putting these ideas all together.
With a big mug of foamy chai tea and some sketching supplies my creativity goes into full blown drawing mode, and I've been really excited by what's happening!
Moving onto the paintings is even more fun, daunting, exciting and a bit scary! I'm as curious as anyone to see how they turn out.
Stay tuned.....
FLIGHTS OF FANCY COLLECTION
Collection Details
-Small afforadable original sketches & paintings
- Paintings are 6x6" acrylic paint on gallery wrapped canvas
-Sketches for the originals will also be available for purchase
Below are photos of the artworks in progress, starting from blank canvases to the creation of the sketches and then onto the painting...
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It starts off with a group of blank canvases and some ideas that I've collected with the help of my friends. The act of painting canvases orange feels like part of the ritual that gets me in the mood for the paintings to come.
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This dragonfly is the first of the ideas that I've been sketching, helped along by a dried specimen I found a long while back. I've always been a fan of Victorian style sketches of the natural world as a way to journal what's being seen.
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I know I want several birds in this series. Looking out my window I've been seeing quite a few Blue Jays. They seem to come through in waves, I think it's a migration thing.
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Adding some ideas for backgrounds. The markings on a Blue Jay make them a wonderful bird to sketch. I don't know if they're called a song bird, because they're really not great singers lol.
Some might think that the creativity, imagination, and flights of fancy that give my life meaning are insanity. — Vladimir Nabokov
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Making this goldfinch come into being with some marks of my pencil. I love that part of drawing, first there's nothing... then there's something that's emerged into existence and feels like it could fly off the page...
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I've been seeing a few Robins bob-bob-bobbing around the lawn. This is totally the bird that comes to mind when I think of spring. I thought tulips in the background would reinforce the spring idea.
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Butterflies are definitely something I think of when I think 'flights of fancy'. A monarch should be in the mix because I'm always so happy when I see them flittering about the garden on a sunny summer day.
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What could make a monarch picture even better?... adding daisies of course! When I create an image it's also about contrast and pattern, I like how these come together in this sketch.
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I've sketched out the designs I worked out in the preliminary drawings on to my canvases. The design can change over the process of the painting. Sometimes what I imagine does look the way I thought, or it just takes a creative twist when I have an aha moment.
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A monarch and daisies in progress. Daisies require working in layers, starting with the shadows first, then adding the white highlights to the blooms to make them pop.
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Enjoying working on this goldfinch. I added coneflowers to give some bright pink colors to contrast the yellow. Goldfinches are such lovely bright birds, a flash and streak of yellow as they fly around.
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As I paint each piece, I keep going back and changing paintings I thought were finished as I discover new things while painting the next piece. I'm excited about what's happening on the canvas! I really want all the paintings to work together as a concept with unified colors.
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These are the collection of sketches that will be available in the collection release. I cut some cream colored 8x10 mats to finish them off...
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Here's a sneak peek at the paintings...head over to the collection to see them all, click the link in the section below!!
FLIGHTS OF FANCY COLLECTION
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