Lines and Connections

Anyone who comes here regularly knows that I love birds, rocks and hearts, and that I really love detail. So maybe this painting was meant to be. First I created a composition. I assembled one of my favourite heart-shaped rocks, a lovely ball of twine and...oh oh...I don't have a real bird nest.  So instead, I made my composition using a not-so-natural-looking decorative bird nest (that dark brown thing in the upper right hand corner of the photo). Then I looked up photos of what a real song sparrow's nest and eggs look like. I chose a song sparrow because they are among our backyard birds. In fact, there's one fellow who often sits in the birch tree just behind our yard and sings his little heart out to me.

My painting was done referring to my composition photo, several reference photos of song sparrow nests and my actual rock and twine. Do you know how many little lines and tiny squiggles there are in a ball of twine or a bird's nest? Let's just say several days' worth.

In my painting, a piece of the bird's nest touches the rock. There are bits of twine woven into the nest and there is a lovely spiral piece of twine that winds its way through the painting. I wanted to convey a sense of connection.  I've titled the painting "This is where my heart lives".

Pictured below is the print that I did of my painting. That took me days as well! After several unsuccessful scans (angled this way and that way), I finally worked from a photo of my painting and have ended up with a print that I am proud of.  I hope you like it too.