A quick check-in this Friday with a few more new Ornimals.
Some of my favorites ornies to make, and also some of the most popular, are birds. Living in a house that is surrounded by woods, I have lots of inspiration right outside by window. We have cardinals, blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees, and goldfinches, juncos, and titmouse. We occasionally see grosbeak, towhees, orioles, and cedar waxwing.
And then there are the big birds-sharp shined hawks, red-tail hawks, owls, and vultures and the occasional heron.
Last year, my bird Ornimals featured just the head of the bird. This year I’ve expanded my sculpting so the bird Ornimal has a body and feet. Some come with additional embellishments like hats and ear muffs.
Cardinal Before (2011 version)
Cardinal Ornimal 2011
Cardinal 2012
Cardinal Ornimal 2012
Amy A. Crawley (2012)
Chickadee Before (2011 version)
Chickadee 2011
Chickadee with Earmuffs
Amy A. Crawley (2012)
Baby Chick
Over the summer, I ordered 2″ glass balls. Another slight error on my part-ordering the wrong size ornament because I still couldn’t find the ones that matched the ornaments I used in 2011. These glass balls sat in the box they were delivered in for a few months.
Then I found inspiration in a few pictures on a great blog, My Modern Met. The post included pictures of baby chicks. They were the perfect size critters for sculpting on these smaller bases.
Baby Chick Ornimal
Amy A. Crawley (2012)
What do you think?
Do you prefer the “full bodied” birds or the “head-only” birds?
Ch-ch-changes
As much as I enjoy sculpting the Ornimals, I find myself yearning to return to some art that I dabbled in last year: encaustics and my polymer focal disks. I took some time in October to dig out the disks I made and laid them out on a work table. It was fun to shuffle them around, lay them out in various patterns, and think about how to assemble them into wall hangings.
Focal Disks
I pulled out several books on encaustic and watched part of a DVD on the medium. Sometimes we all need to take a break from the art we currently make and rejuvenate with a different medium. I hope to work a bit more with the disks and encaustic after I finish my last holiday show in December. Who knows, maybe I’ll combine animal sculpture, encaustic, and wall hangings.
Focal Disk on encaustic paint background
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend.
Musings from the Moonroom 
November 2, 2012 at 10:11 am
I definitely like the feet added… makes them grounded and complete.
November 4, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Thanks Judy for you compliment. Made me chuckle when you mentioned that the feet make the Ornies feel “grounded.” The feet do add a feeling of completeness.
November 2, 2012 at 10:53 am
The ornimals are adorable and I really love the additions. As much as I like those, though, I’m partial to the disks. Your work is continually evolving š
November 4, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Thanks Shelley. I’m still drawn to the disks too. Not just for the shape-I love circles-but for their amoeba-like qualities. I think my medical background (once was a speech-language pathologist) is coming to the surface with these pieces. Neurons, cells, all that stuff. Who knows what will develop next…
November 5, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Hi Amy, while I really like the “heads only” ornies, I LOVE the ones with the feet added. Like Judy said, it makes them look grounded and complete. Glad to see you return to playing with the focal disks!
November 13, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Thanks Karen. The addition of the feet does seem to complete the ornies. And people are now saying, “Oh, I can put it on a shelf cause it stands.” Playing with the focal disks has been fun…sometimes too much of a distraction when I need to make ornies.