I ended yesterday’s post with “Nothing is going to get in the way of me finishing this painting tomorrow!”
Yeah, that didn’t happen. As I assumed, the house was filled with people and my concentration would have been way off.
So I went with Plan B.
It all started when I was telling my family about how I found this beautiful little copper nest out on the street. My mother-in-law laughed at me “That’s a Brillo pad silly!” Really? it’s so pretty…
I thought it just had to become something. Of course a nest. I told my daughter I was going to pull out our “collage bucket” and she wanted in. Next thing I knew my mom and mother-in-law wanted in too!
It became a morning coffee girl-fest!
Being a true recycler and artist, no art material get’s thrown out. Instead it goes into my collage bucket. Tiny yarn remnants, felt, fabric, feathers, old stickers, ribbon, and paper scraps are all stored together just begging to be re-used.
Ta-da!
My mom-in-law made a nature inspired fairy-wand or bouquet. The funny story with hers, is that a bumble-bee climbed inside my sons shirt. He was screaming bloody-murder this morning which of course startled us. My son wasn’t stung but was scared out of his wits. The poor little bee didn’t make it, but my mom-in-law added it to her collage. How’s that for using nature?
My mother made a tribute to the CBS Sunday morning program. The TV program features hand-made suns which is their logo. As a family we’ve spent almost two decades watching the program together Sunday mornings. She poked fun at the fact that I don’t really have TV, so we couldn’t watch our favorite program even if we wanted to. She wrote on her piece “NO TV. Ode to CBS Sunday Morning at Mary’s Breakfast Table…” and the date. Note the cat-eye glasses, green eyes and bright colors…they are a tribute to me :) Love it!
My daughter started out with yarn. she made a river, a bird’s nest and some green grasslands. She snagged some of my driftwood and made some bridges. She also found an anchovy can in the recycling bin that she used as a boat. She’s my nature girl/animal lover, so her theme was quite fitting.
This was as far as I got, before the grandparents all packed up to go home and the kids and I prepared for an afternoon of roller skating.
My premise thus far for my collage was to forage like a bird. I pulled a big pile of scraps out of the bucket and systematically used all of them for the periphery. That was my thought process on birds. They use whatever is in their vicinity for their nests. This is why we all enjoy studying bird nests, you see grasses, twigs and traditional nest materials, but you also see string, wrappers, and all sorts of man-made debris as well. My material wasn’t premeditated, I used exactly what was on hand, weaving it together, simulating my idea of a “nest”.
You’ll find bubble wrap, felt, yarn, feathers, corrugated card board, stickers and even gum wrappers.
I then sprinkled Swarovski crystals onto a piece of board wet with glue, creating a glittered mat.
The wood pieces are drift-wood I collected on the beach after Hurricane Sandy and there in the center is my found-object Brillo pad. I took some remnant rhinestones and glued them in as eggs.
When we returned from roller-skating, my daughter and I began designing animals for our collage habitats.
I took polymer clay and used it as a foundation for adding jewelry remnants and seed beads to create tiny bird mosaics. My daughter created a fish, bird, seahorse, another bird and of course her favorite, the platypus.
I attached straight pins for bird legs and then after I cooked them, the legs slid into the copper mesh perfectly.
Voila! Brillo Pad Bird’s Nest.
A way to incorporate spending time with my family into my 365 Creativity Challenge.
Thank you family for joining me today. It was a lot of fun!
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