Our January challenge was Bird: a chicken’s egg, bird at a feeder or a roasted chicken, anything goes!

by Susan Irving  Here is my Bird Challenge effort. My inspiration was a little egg containing a hatching chick, carved of ivory, that Mike (husband) gave me upon the birth of our daughter, Sonja.

My apologies to anyone who breeds chickens or other birds if it is not accurate in any way. I will use ignorance and “artistic license” as my excuses. 

 Here is another one for the “Bird” challenge.  “Psychedelic Owl”  just fooling around with markers and crayons.

by Milo Smith I had a very old image of a Great Egret in Lake of Two Mountains.  I wondered if I could use Photoshop to add interest by colouring the bird one way and its reflection another.  Here is a first attempt at such a thing in Photoshop. Obviously needs practice to be perfect.  One more thing to do while locked down!

by Diane Faubert In 7th grade , around 1966, I drew this barn and rooster.

I gave it to a friend and he kept for years. One day,  when we got together as adults, many years later, he mentioned having this drawing which I had made. Upon seeing the drawing,  I remembered it. He gave it back to me and I put it  up on a wall then later in a bin in the basement. I took this drawing out a few years ago and put it back on my wall. 

So when you mentioned drawing a bird last month, I decided to try painting it again. It is titled “Le Coq” or “Foubert Le Coq”.

Amazingly, when I recently did my family tree I found out that in 1722 my great-great-great-great-grandfather was “Jean-Baptiste Foubert Le Coq”.  Coincidence or not,  it is weird and wonderful. I drew a rooster when I was in primary school, not knowing that a rooster is part of my family history. 

by Tina Whitman I have always loved puffins but seeing them during a whale watching excursion in Newfoundland and learning more about them, I love them even more. 

I took this photo several years ago.  I found this bird by our picket fence. It didn’t seem to have come to a violent end but simply dropped head first into the snow.

by Lynne Ayers this is from one of my own photos I’d wanted to paint for a while, so the bird challenge was a good prompt.   

I approached it as “just play” and did it on a piece of mat board because I liked the way the watercolour reacted – very soft.  I knew it would be a challenge to get it to lie flat when finished. I waxed it and used acrylic gel medium to adhere it to a panel.  It would have worked except for a crease I created when flexing it a little too far 😦  Only visible from a certain angle but there.  Ahh well, experiments.  

by Kerry Herwynen McIntosh I didn’t feel like starting this challenge but, I’ve found that being silly with birds is a good way to loosen up. I will continue!

by Susan Latreille When I first considered the ‘Bird’ challenge, I thought to work with one of my bird photos – woodpeckers at feeders, blue herons at Middle Lake, wild or domestic turkeys running rampant in our yard.

Then I remembered, caught up during our first round of Covid restrictions in May 2020, my photos of the wild turkey egg nest at the end of our driveway. I had an idea of creating something akin to the goose that laid a golden egg. Scratch that! Tried and tried but couldn’t get the effect I wanted. 

But gold got me thinking of jewels. Could I create something with jewel tones? Back to the drawing board and editing tools and my artistic interpretation of jewel-like turkey eggs.

by Janet Harris Timms Even before Covid hit, I lost my drive to paint.  I’m not sure why, maybe preoccupied with Granddaughter babysitting, immersed in singing, operetta rehearsals and shows, writing and other activities. Then, when Covid cancelled everything,  a different emotion, a lack of confidence took hold, and new responsibilities were still discouraging me, even though my dear friend would keep asking,  “So?  Have you started yet??!” Then one day, “Did you see this month’s challenge?”

Birds!  I LOVE birds.

I guess something finally clicked, and I  was off. Thanks to Tina and Kerry’s challenge and that final, friendly push I still needed.

And so, without further ado, may I introduce King Henry Muscovy, one of our rescue ducks, part of our gang of feathered lovelies.  I went to Perth to bring him home. Although huge and fierce looking, he is very gentle and loves his new home and friends!  

The challenge for February is Under the Sea. Send it to us by the end of this short month.

Don’t forget, Collectif members, send an image (or a few) of very recent work to cagac.ca@gmail.com with up to 100 words describing what you did, materials used, inspiration, etc. Maybe share how you’re feeling & how creativity helps. We’d like an informative, inspiring show & tell. Writers, send us poetry, lyrics, a short piece or excerpt. Share!