Well, after last week’s frivolous cat it's back to Serious Stuff, and it’s the Scottish bird series again. One of my favourite birds has got to be the curlew, with its weird, otherworldly cry. We usually get a few up here in the spring, but they’re becoming a lot rarer than they used to be. This started out as another illustration of camouflaged animals, but the colours of the birds blended more and more into each other, and as I liked the confusion of shapes and colours I just carried on until the shapes of the birds were in danger of getting totally lost.
The Complicated Curlews
I know I go in for complicated designs, but this one was excessive even for me – it had 52 colour changes and each of the five birds was appliqueed on separately, so stitching it out was a big job
Extraordinary! They feel alive. I love the curlew headed in the opposite direction from all the rest.
I love them. I can see why each one would be appliqued separately. It makes them more unique. How big was the design?
Wow, Mia – you’ve outdone yourself this time! Loved them (but I wouldn’t have loved stitching them with all the color stops!) Beautiful. And sorry they seem to be getting more scarce in your parts; we used to have loons visit our pond, and their cry is something you never forget, either. But we have not seen them here for years.
Amazing details!!
I really like this piece, especially the intertwined 3 curlews in the front. This is definitely an application for my 6-needle! Repetitions of a single color are no problem on that beast.
I also love the painted background. Are you going to exhibit this one or is it a commissioned work?
Oh, these are glorious! Where is your museum?!
Wow Mia! You’re use of color is awesome! Love it!
Love the crulews. I had to look that up and listen to their cries on the internet. I learned something. They are so real looking, great job.