Back Yard Birds

 

Featured image: Back Yard Birds

Gosh where to begin?  I played around with this whole piece and everything in it. I think every part of an abstract or semi-abstract work is always experimental, as I rarely have much in mind when I start working. When I began this work last November, I started with a figure, washes, and colors.  I then stepped back and asked myself what the idea behind this work would be. I decided to make birds part of the composition, but how and where to place them became a major struggle.  I tried many ways, sizes, colors and shapes but always painted over them.  If you look closely at the work, you might glimpse the birds I painted over because they just weren’t right. It wasn’t until I put the red bird on the shoulder of the figure that I stopped struggling and felt comfortable with the marks and colors of the bird.  The rest didn’t come easily after that. I tried many birds flying around but that didn’t work for me. I finally settled on a bird at the bird feeder.

This whole work was extremely experimental for me and I learned a great deal from the creation and placement of the birds. I am ready to move on with what I learned to the next work and put these new ideas to work for me. The fun part for me as an artist is always knowing that even as I move on with new ideas, they are never the same in the next work.