Putting a Bird On It

I’m sure many of you have already seen the hilarious sketch “Put a Bird On It” from IFC’s show “Portlandia.” If not, watch here and see how these comedic actors poke fun at the recent trend of putting birds on all kinds of fashion and décor to spruce them up.



Well, yes, we can poke fun, but putting birds on things is really a hot trend. Audubon Magazine’s blog have noted that items featuring our feathered friends might actually increase sales. They say that sellers on Etsy, an online marketplace where artists sell their own creations, say that their bird items are some of their top sellers. And even more recently, the Wall Street Journal has written about birds being all the rage in this spring’s fashion lineup.

As birders, of course we are drawn to birdies on and off the field. The recent boom of this bird trend is only making it that much easier for a couple of hipster birders to enjoy their love of birding and birds in other ways - from coffee mugs, to shower curtains, to trendy t-shirts (all things we actually own). You’ll even see the bird trend mixing with other trends, like the revival of the phrase “Keep Calm and Carry On,” which was originally a phrase used in propaganda posters by the British government in 1939 at the start of World War II. Now you’ll see heaps of varieties of this phrase on posters and t-shirts to fit your liking, including “Keep Calm and Put a Bird On It.”

We try not to be TOO much of “those crazy bird people” where everything we own has birds on them. We don’t mind being those crazy birding people, just not those slightly overboard bird lovers whose homes are covered head to toe in bird décor. We try to be a little selective in which bird items we choose to surround us, always keeping it hip or chic, of course ;-)

Vintage plate drawing/engraving of a Greater Painted Snipe we have in our home. From the French nature book, Dictionnnaire Pittorosque d'Histoire Naturelle et des Phenomenes de la Nature, 1839.

That brings me to my latest home project that I recently completed. I was all too happy to see that wall art in the form of large vinyl decals or stickers was increasingly trending. They are a fun and easy way to jazz up your bare walls without all the hassle of painting and re-painting when you move out. These decals, like this one here, are supposed to be easy to apply, but will stay on well enough until you are ready to remove them with ease. The only problem is that these stickers can get quite pricey, so I decided to give it a whirl and try to make my own bird wall art.

Making bird stencils which I then traced and cut out using pretty paper.

Giving a splash of color by using a different color of patterned paper for a frame

Using leftover patterned paper, I created this lovely wall art of flying swallows, actually using photos of Purple Martins as my silhouette models. I simply drew shapes of flying swallows in various sizes so that it would create the effect of a group of them flying towards you, traced them on patterned paper, cut them out, and voila! I sort of tested out using just regular washable glue stick like kids use in school as my adhesive. I’m hoping that they’ll stick well enough to the wall but be easy to remove without ruining the paint. So far, they’re sticking up well! And to spice things up, I added my own touch by stenciling a pretty frame out of a different color of patterned paper for some contrast. It’s an affordable and fun way to “put a bird on it” in our own home.

Close-up of the finished product!

Here is the entire bird wall art I created!

Ode to the Oystercatcher

As much as I want to keep talking about and posting pictures of the Black-Headed Gull that has pretty much taken up most of my life this past week (in a good way, of course), I'll give our regular readers a break.

Taking advantage of the bout of free time that I've recently had, I thought what better way to get the creative juices flowing than to paint. It's been quite a while since I have painted since I can't seem to find the time between birding and the other minor things in life I have to do. So now that I have a few extra moments, I decided to paint a lovely subject, the American Oystercatcher. I have dabbled in bird drawings, but not painting.

Work in progress: The thumbnail sketch, the outline on canvas, and the photo of inspiration

You may recall that we had an unforgettable close encounter with a pair of American Oystercatchers in the Spring of last year. Flipping through our old photos, I was inspired to paint this lovely bird with his striking orangey-red bill against his black head and white belly. She's so ultra chic! And when you really look closely at the eyes, you are amazed at how those golden eyes pop with that orangey-red color showing up again in the eye ring. 

Completed Painting of the American Oystercatcher

As I used a photo that I took as a model for my painting, I noticed an even more intriguing characteristic of the eye of the bird I was drawing. If you look even closer, you see this shadowy mark or fleck under the pupil. I have since discovered that this marking has been linked to determining the sex of the bird! Check out this article in the Journal of Field Ornithology for more information. Very neat stuff!

Painting in the living room

So I hope you enjoy this painting as much as I do! It was great fun to do and a learning experience. You really learn to pay attention to details when you have to recreate a bird on paper or canvas.

Artist Unleashed

I’ve always been an artist at heart. I don’t spend nearly enough time creating artwork as much as I should or that I’d like, but there’s very much a creative side in me. Taking photographs is one outlet that I have, and it’s usually quick and something I can do while I am birding.

Glossy Ibis

Many experts say that sketching birds in the field is a great way to learn and take notes, but I find that very difficult to do when birds are buzzing past you. Birds that are often still, like duck and the wading birds we often find in South Florida are not as difficult to sit and sketch, and Nick and I have tried it a couple of times. Here are some of my first sketches of a Glossy Ibis and a Blue-Winged Teal. 

Blue-Winged Teal

But recently I decided that I wanted to express my love of birds in more detail and in color. I love to paint, but that’s pretty time-consuming for me. I decided I would have a go at drawing birds with colored pencils. I had some nice, basic art pencils and went for it. My first subject would be a Prairie Warbler. I used my pictures that I’ve taken previously as my models. With my simple pack of 12 colored pencils, I thought I did pretty well considering the Prairie Warbler didn’t have too many colors. 

Prairie Warbler

It felt so nice to finally draw again and in color that I decided to beef up my artillery and get a larger pack of good quality colored pencils. I splurged (but using a 50% off coupon....YES!) and bought a pack of 36 pencils which allowed me to have more variation in colors. 

Cape May Warbler Sketch 1

Cape May Warbler Sketch 2

Next on my list would be a Cape May Warbler. I must say that I think I did a better job with this one. And, I found that I did actually learn more about the bird’s features by drawing it, such as the potbelly and the slightly decurved bill. I am so glad that I have found myself drawing again. I can knock out a drawing of a warbler in about an hour or two, and I get to express my artistic side while learning about birds – it’s a win-win!

Completed Cape May Warbler Drawing