Splashing Through Life - Art by Patricia Henderson

  Finally! Bird #100 of 100! Mar 9, 2022 Updated: Oct 26, 2023 Way back in the beginning of 2019, in the "before times", I gave myself the challenge of painting or collaging 100 birds. To make it easier on myself I decided that it would be 100 birds in total, not necessarily 100 separate individual birds, so some of the paintings could have more than one bird in it. Finally, here we are in 2022 and I've recently completed my 100th bird, another crow. They are one of my favourite subjects. With their black glossy feathers that actually shine with so many colours, to their intelligence and character, I find them endlessly fascinating to paint. I want to thank everyone for their interest and for cheering me on. It took me a lot longer to finish than I thought. The pandemic didn't help. While some artists took advantage of being forced to stay home more often and created volumes of work, I found that I was often not motivated at all and often spent time playin...

Here's a peek at where I'm at on this one: Starting to take shape!

Here is a peek of what I'm currently working on, a lovely Blue Heron. So far, the background is done and I've applied my drawing of the heron. Next I will be starting to collage! Not the best photo, but you can see the ghostly outline of the heron. Reference photo courtesy of PaintMyPhoto.com

I've been working on this collage on and off all summer! It seems like these hot days are more conducive to swimming, reading and watering the garden than working on art. But I've buckled down and finished this today. Still pondering on a title...I've got a few in mind, but if you think of anything fabulous just leave a comment! This piece will be dropped off at ARTspace in Chatham tomorrow. Untitled (for now) 24" X 12" X 1.5" Torn Paper Collage on Canvas And here is the original concept sketch! Done way back on June 1st.

Here is a little corner of my yard, and a couple birds cooling off. A very quick little sketch today! Cooling Off 4" X 6"  in sketchbook

Okay, I'm REALLY going to make an attempt to keep up my Watercolour Wednesdays! LOL  Today I'm posting a little Chicadee that I am submitting to the Grambacher Trading Card swap. This month's theme is birds. You can check out the swap page HERE . Each time you submit a card, the punch a rewards card. I will have three holes punched after submitting this little birdie, so that means I get three tubes of paint! I love Chicadees and wish that they came to my feeder. I have heard them in the small woods at the end of my block, but they don't seem to want to venture over to my yard.  Chicadee-dee-dee 2.5" X 3.5" NFS

This colourful little fellow is feeling just ducky today! The colours in this small collage are even richer in person. During these dull days it is hard to get the camera to pick up the colours accurately. I will be popping him into my Etsy shop shortly, or if you'd like this little fellow to brighten up your house, feel free to contact me directly!  Now on to my next project, I wonder what that will be? "Just Ducky" 8" X 10" X 1.5" Paper Collage on Canvas Reference photo by Shawn Parker  @ Artist Reference Photos

Maybe it is appropriate that my last painting of this year is of a crow. According to some legends, the crow can be a sign of change. We are changing from the old year to the new, and that always comes with the expectation of changes, hopefully for the better. Wishing you all a Happy New Year full of wonderful changes, new beginnings and the comfort of things that we want to stay the same. Family, friends, and home. Patty A Sign of Change 5" X 7" Watercolour, ink, coloured pencils (Click on picture for larger image)

We've had more Blue Jays around our feeder than we ever have, and even though they can be a bit loud mouthed and bossy, I just love seeing that flash of blue! And I swear they can see me putting out peanuts from miles away! This collage is a bit different from most of the others I've done.  I created monoprints of backyard leaves by using my Gelli® Printing plate and embellished them at the end with some watercolours. The bird was done with my regular method of applying all sorts of coloured bits of paper. I'm still not sure I like it, but it is growing on me! A Flash of Blue 12" X 12"

Here is a very small quick sketch I did today of the swan that decided to take a brief rest in the field behind our house! He was kind enough to pause long enough for me to take a few photos. Swan Sketch 5 X 7" Watercolour on Arches 140 HP paper

I had originally decided to call this "Which Came First?", but from the look on this girl's face, I'm thinking I should call it "Where Did THAT Come From?!" or "Did I Do That??" This turned out very bright and busy, but I like it. It's a fun one for sure! Which Came First? 14 X 11 X 1.5" $250

No, it's not a painting of a bottle of vodka ! This is an actual goose. And he's grey! (Or gray for my American friends).  Done on a scrap piece of Arches watercolour paper, and embellished with a touch of ink. Honk! Grey Goose 7.5" X 11"

Phew! I've been working on this one for over a week. It's been a while since I've done a larger full collage, and I forgot how much work goes into it. But I enjoyed every minute. It's quite meditative. Since I don't have ducks and geese walking around my back yard, I've based this on a couple of fun reference photos, from Paint My Photo and Wetcanvas. This is:                                               Duck, Duck, Goose!                                                                    12" X 24"                                                           ...

I missed last Wednesday's watercolour, but I decided to do a little ink and wash sketch of a little family of geese that we saw at the Brigden fair this past October. Just a little quickie painting to end the year! Happy New Year everyone! Mother Goose and Goslings 5" X 7"

Here is a quick sketch of a gaggle of geese in the snow. Reference photo courtesy of the great website Paint My Photo . It has given me an idea for a potential collage painting in the future....stay tuned! Gaggle of Geese 5" X 7" Watercolour and ink on Arches 140 lb CP

Now that I'm retired, I have a lot more time to spend in the studio! I've been loving doing my mixed media collages, but I want to keep in touch with my watercolour roots. I've decided that every Wednesday I will do some kind of watercolour, just to practice and also because I do really enjoy it. Today I didn't have a lot of time to do something fancy, so I did this little 2.5 X 3.5" ACEO. ACEO stands for "ART CARDS, EDITIONS AND ORIGINALS".  They are also known as Artist Trading Cards. I've had some luck selling these on Etsy , which is where this little guy is hanging out. This little Baltimore Oriole is smart and doesn't hang around here when it's cold, but painting him brought a bit of warmth to my morning.

One morning, last summer I was surprised while driving to work when a beautiful Great Egret landed in a ditch along the road. It was early in the morning and so peaceful. I thought it would be a great subject for a painting. I didn't get started on it right away, but in my mind's eye I could picture what I wanted to do. It was going to be a night scene with a dark blue background and a white moon and the beautiful white egret standing in the light of the moon. It was going to be wonderful! Well....not so much.. I decided to collage the whole background. It somehow ended up being a purplish blue monstrosity! I had made a big circular pattern in the background that was very distracting. The bird was too small in comparison to the moon. I used all the wrong colours and papers in the egret. The whole thing was a mess. I looked at it for a few days and decided I hated it. That's when I got out the gesso. It was very cathartic to slap that white paint all over the canvas. I...

I haven't decided on a title for this one yet. It might be because most of the time I start out with a title already in mind, but this painting kind of came about by accident! I had started a really cool painting with the background a collage of road maps with a very thin wash of gesso, and clear tar gel swirled over top.  I washed on some really nice blues and aquas. Over that I was going to collage some monarch butterflies, using my pre-painted papers.... Well, the background was great. The butterlies, not so much. I hate giving up on a painting, but I went for the gusto and took a big brush and gesso'd all over it. Not really knowing where I was going with this one, I took Mary Todd Beam's favourite colour trio of Golden Fluid Acrylics: Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Quinacridone Crimson, and Turquois (Phthalo), and did some random washes. The crimson kind of got left behind! The result reminded me of the sun and some twigs or branches. I had recently taken some phot...