Wintering Birds

If you are a bird watcher (like I am) you know that many birds do not "fly south" for the winter.

They spend their winters in - and thrive in - cold, snowy climates. 

Black-capped Chickadee, painted collage

Last Thursday, I spent a good part of my day observing birds in my own Idaho backyard. There are about three inches of snow on the ground and the temps were about 20°F.

I saw: several flocks of starlings, a house wren, a scrub jay, two magpies, a northern red-shafted flicker (a type of woodpecker), and a robin!

Blue Jay, watercolor and acrylic on paper

Our goal as artists was to illustrate backyard birds that winter in cold climates such as ours in southeastern Idaho. Our artists used mixed media for their illustrations, including tempera paint, oil pastels, collage, watercolor, and acrylics. 

Blue Jay with Northern Cardinal, oil pastel and tempera collage

You can learn more about how to create this wintering bird mixed media collage on our original weblog post, Backyard Birds. 

Christmas Ornaments Galore!

 

We've just made Christmas ornaments galore! 

Using patchwork, felt, wood, paint, buttons, and more!

Here's a striped Christmas blockhead! 

And cute scratch art stars!

There're Grinches down chimneys, to steal what's not theirs!

Here's Santa's log cabin,

and a penguin snow globe! 

We've got painted wood critters, and a snowflake that glows!

A small painting easel, and snowman art too!

More snowflakes, a tree, and a gift just for you!

We have buttoned up snowmen!

And Santa is here!

And a wood cookie Rudolf, to bring you good cheer!

Yep, you can make Christmas ornaments from whatever you have on hand. Tip: a hot glue gun is very helpful. Merry Christmas!!!

Folk Art Santa

This week we celebrated Santa through the ages and as he appears in other
countries.

Also known as St. Nick, Kris Kringle, and Father Christmas, he brought toys and goodies to children on Christmas Eve just like our present day Santa. 

However, early images of Santa looked quite different than the Santa we know today. He wore long coats of various colors and ornamentation. 

He often carried Christmas trees and things like food and toys in baskets. He sometimes had large pockets, belts, and ornate shoulder bags. 

The children were very interested in these nostalgic images of Santa Claus and wanted to create their own. 

We originally created this type of Santa artwork in December of 2019. 

You can see more about this project and how we made it, including step-by-step instructions, on our original weblog post: Santa Folk Art.