A Three-Ring Circus Bird

I was experimenting with different collage papers the other day and decided to add watercolor around the glued papers.

Some of the papers I used were from Sharon Mann, when we did our collage paper exchange.  If you missed that post, you can read more about it here:  The Speedball Bird

Other papers were from my own collage experiments that I had sewn on my sewing machine and then printed on the Gelli-Plate.

I made two tags for my art journal and found they had a “circus” feel to them:

That is how today’s weird bird came to be… He is from the “Flying Circus!” 😉

A Three-Ring Circus Bird

I used Sharon Mann’s collage papers for this bird!  Thanks again Sharon! 🙂

I finished my “circus” tags with a few pen doodles:

Do you have happy memories from attending a circus?  I hope you share them with me!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

It’s A Splash!

I have been doing these mini collages in my art journal that start by glueing a piece of paper randomly on a page and then going back and adding to it until it feels like it is done.

It reminds me of solving a puzzle.

Here is one I just started:

I hope to show you how I complete it next week!

The one below, I started with the brown piece of kraft paper that I previously printed on the Gelli plate:

I added the tree and then got the idea to add the image of a child and a growth chart.

I started with the gray image from a magazine underneath the “water circus” image for this one:

From there, I added the buoy paper, etc.  I finished it with the rubber stamped letters to balance out the fish.

It IS a splash to create collage this way!! I hope you give me a try and tell me what you think!

Cheers! 🙂

The High-Flying Unicycle Bird

Ladies and Gentlemen… Let me introduce you to the AMAZING Unicycle Bird for this Weird Bird Wednesday!

This unusual bird can sometimes be found inside a circus tent or outside on a telephone wire:

The Unicycle Bird has incredible balance for having pedals permanently attached to its thin bird feet.  Even more extraordinary is that its unicycle wheel NEVER goes flat!  WOWZA!

Cheers to you for an awe-inspiring day!  🙂

The Incredible Flying Fish!

HERE YE!  HERE YE!

You won’t want to miss this circus act of the Fabulous Flying Fish brothers:

They have flown in from the coast to perform several AMAZING tricks!

You will see the “Comb Fish with Red Hair” stand on one-wing – a surprising feat!

The “Six-Foot One-Wing Wahoo” will pole vault over three elephants!  Yes, it seems unbelievable but it is true!  You will be dazzled with delight!

The “Big-Eye Two-Short Finned” fish will astonish you with it’s ability to jump through hoops using its two short fins and not his wings!

And last but certainly not least, the marvelous “Bearded Three-Wing” fish will spin circles the length of the tent while juggling seashells!

You won’t want to miss this AWESOME show!  Tickets are sold by the Sarcastic Fringehead this Friday only – Don’t miss the chance of a lifetime!

(BTW – According to Wikipedia, there really is a Comb fish, a Wahoo, a Big-Eye, a Bearded and MY FAVORITE, a Sarcastic Fringehead)

Hope you enjoyed the show!  🙂

The Circus Bird

I completed this collage in 2013 when I was taking an online class from Carla Sonheim, “The Year of the Giraffe.”

I think the bird riding on the giraffe’s hat is a Kea bird.  Today, I learned that a gathering or group of Kea is called a circus.

Here is a close-up photo of my bird in my collage:

According to Wikipedia, the Kea is a large species of parrot found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand.  It is the world’s only alpine parrot.  It is a large bird in size – 19 inches long and weighing up to 2 lbs.

Here is a quick sketch I did this morning of a Kea:

Known for their intelligence and curiosity, the Kea is called, “the clown in the mountains.”  It’s urge to explore and manipulate makes the bird a pest for residents and an attraction for tourists.

I did not know when I made this collage in February of 2013 that I would be focusing my art on birds for a whole year.  Maybe this was the beginning of my curiosity:

I find it interesting to see where life leads us on our creative journey.

I am attending Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai on Thursday evening.  I am very excited!  The costuming is spectacular!  I wonder what ideas I will take from this circus for my art!

Happy Creating!