Anemones

I love making linocuts of the strange and wondrous forms of a coral reef!

"My Blue Head"

I'm blue,
very blue.

VMFA - Richmond, Va. and the Blue Head!

Last week I spent the afternoon visiting the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and read about art until my eyes crossed! I love to visit museums on rainy days but it wasn't a perfect situation for the photos I wanted to take of the new addition. Anyway, there's a strange blue head in the sculpture display by the artist Kaneko. Does it remind you of anything?

Good Homes - Part 4

I finished the painting and applied a few coats of polyurethane to the outside to protect them from the weather, keeping the inside natural to prevent harming the birds.

Ready for occupancy!!

In a few months, that is.

Good Homes! - Part 3

Now that the holes were finished, I applied a little cherry stain that I already had and painted some designs on the gourds with acrylic paints, which I'm glad to say I found as I dug my way through my art closet. Since I like butterflies, I painted several, limiting the number since the owner of these gourds told me to keep it simple! Keep it simple?? I tried! The gourd makes a nice painting surface so it would be easy to make more complicated pieces.

Good Homes! - Part 2

Now that the gourds are clean, it's time to drill the holes and clean them out. Not that there's much to clean out - just some seeds and a little dust! They're strange creatures! You should keep in mind what species of bird you would like to attract because there are preferences for the hole sizes. I chose the 1 1/2" hole, preferred by the Carolina Wren and others. You have to drill a few smaller holes in the bottom to allow for drainage. I've heard that birds love the gourds. If you hang them, they will come! At least they're natural and last for many years.