An assortment of bird photos.

            I love birds & have some lovely photos of them I'd like to share with you:

Osprey on the nest - Kootenay Lake, BC, Canada

Close up of an osprey in a tree in our yard.

Young ducks & their mom sunning on a log... usually there's turtles here, but not today.

A young flicker that was sleeping under our gas meter... when he realized I was there, he flew away :)

We saw so many blue herons at the seashore... lots of food for them :)

Three young blue herons waiting for dinner, close up.

We found an amazing heron rookery near the ocean, these young ones were patiently waiting for their dinner.

It's always a special day when I see a bald eagle.
There's many in our area, but it's still a treat to get a close up.

A duck of some sort on Kootenay Lake, BC, Canada

A close up of a stellar's jay

A stellar's jay posing for me.

The elusive blue jay. I didn't even know we had them in this part of Canada :)

The blue jay posing in our patio.

Backside view of this beautiful blue jay.

A little dipper

A little chickadee

A little nuthatch eating sunflower seeds.

Pileated woodpecker - they're so big!

A big crow 

A raven posing for a photo.

A blue bird and a bear head... finished.

I've just completed two clay pieces that I'm quite proud of. 

An adorable blue bird figure, and a bear head wall hanging.

To see them before painting... click here.

I hope you don't mind if I show them off.

This is my blue bird before I painted a 

glossy finish on him. 

The gloss protects the paint, and enhances the colours,

but makes it hard to get photos without glare.

This is the bear head before the glossy finish.

These are after the glossy finish. 

Bye bye Big Blue Bird.

As I write this, Dave's on his way to town, to ship my Big Blue Bird, to Australia.

Here's some final photos.

I can't tell you how stressed I get about packing & shipping,

it's enough to drive both of us crazy.

Anyhow, he's safely packed and on his way

to a much warmer home in no time...

Bon Voyage mon ami.

To see how he was made: from the beginning.

Big bird clay figure- in progress photos. Part 5

To see previous in progress photos. Part 4

Well, it's New Year's eve, and I really wanted to finish this bird, so

after a lot of procrastinating, I set my mind to it.

I added highlights to his feet, wings and tail...then painted his eyes.

It's so hard to get the eyeballs "just right", but I think I got it.

I'll take better photos tomorrow (in natural light), and then give him a

couple of clear coats, to protect the paint job. Not sure if I should give

him a satin, or matt finish...

Here's the underside... I carved my signature on his foot.

What a perfect way to say goodbye to 2011, finishing the details on

one of my best clay pieces, ever. (It also reminded me that I have a horse

that's still waiting to be painted- he's next.)

Big bird clay figure- in progress photos. Part 4

See previous in progress photos (part 3)

Here's a peak inside the kiln as I prepare to fire it up.

After a tiring day at work, I was excited to be going home to open the kiln,

and see how my bird fared in the firing.

As you can see, he's fine :)

I ate a quick soup & sandwich to finish the last of the turkey (thank goodness),

then got down to painting.

I always do the eyes last, so he'll be blind for a little while yet, but he's close to

being complete & ready to fledge...