Saturday, September 10, 2022

A Bird Without Tail Feathers?

 Hi everyone. Happy weekend to you.

I'm away in Utah right now. According to my hotel schedule we should be in the area of Dinosaur National Monument that straddles the states of Utah and Colorado in the north-eastern corner of Utah. The last 2 days we have been hiking, doing some driving and seeing some great scenery. 

We Here’s a photo I took yesterday on my phone as we approached Capital Reef National Park in Utah. 

The rest of this post is scheduled because I didn't want Neet to think I was ignoring her challenge.


I still had several guinea hen feathers that I picked up last spring when we had a maple syrup day at my daughter's future in-laws.  I thought this would be a good challenge to use some of them.

I started by stamping the background  with feathers images and black ink. Then I gave my page a spray with some yellow ochre-ish mica ink. I don't think my photo caught the shimmer very well, but you'll have to take my word that it does shimmer.

 I stamped this silly bird and fussy cut her. After I glued her down on my page and colored her in, I glued down some feathers. I had to cut off  her tail feathers (when I fussy cut out the image) because they would have been too hard to hand cut out, and perhaps that is why there are some actual feathers on my page. This poor lady has lost her tail.  She does look like she is running away from something. Maybe I should have drawn some scissors on the page also, but that might have frightened her even more.

I also want to share more  photos from the grounds of The Mount before I come home from our vacation trip and have lots of National Park photos. I showed you the gardens and grounds of The Mount already, but you may remember I mentioned that they also had some sculptures displayed on the ground. These were not permanent sculpture displays, but only there for the season. You can actually buy the sculptures if you have lots of money. 

Here's a few today, and I'll share more next week.
I'll start off with this gateway to nature and the great texture the artist cerated.





This next one was called The Swimmer.




And this mountain lion sculpture was quite life-like, especially from afar. When I took these photos the sun hit it just right so it sparkled. Later in the day when we walked back by her the sun didn't hit it right and although still striking, it didn't shimmer. My photos didn't really catch the shimmer sadly.





And lastly for today, how about this cool lounge chair? I would love this in my yard, but, it isn't in my budget. If you look carefully you can see it is made from all 26 letters of the English alphabet. They are metal.





That's all for me today. I hope you enjoy your weekend.

15 comments:

Iris Flavia said...

Beautiful first pic and oh. Your work I would love to hang on the wall!
Great sculptures!
Enjoy your trip!
We´ll be off to Alstom for family day soon. I´ll meet my teamleader in person.... nervous!
Fell like a kid.. hugs and to a great weekend
(it happened once I met a blogger and we so not did get along in real life...)

Angie's Recipes said...

That mountain lion sculpture looks stunning! Continue to enjoy your vacation in Utah!

Valerie-Jael said...

Looks like you are having a wonderful vacation through beautiful landscapes. I had to laugh at your spotty bird in you great journal page, I have similar ones on my blog today, too. The statue of the mountain lion is breathtaking. Continue to enjoy your vacation, hugs, Valerie

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Enjoy your time out west, Erika. So much to see out there. Hugs - David

kathyinozarks said...

Amazing sculptures Erika, and I Love your latest page very much-enjoy your vacation and don't worry so much about blog land-hugs

CJ Kennedy said...

The poor hen reminds of Peter Pan where he lost his shadow and needed it to be reattached. Maybe she can pick up the feathers and sew or glue them back on. The sculptures are awesome. I was thinking I'd really like that gate until I saw the alphabet chaise. Have fun today!

Neet said...

That Mountain Lion is fantastic. Wow, bet you looked twice at it, so realistic. Love the archway you went through at the beginning and the chair made up of the alphabet is absolutely stunning. What a great piece!
Just like your art on your journal page - a fab entry for the challenge at AJJ. Love the bird, she is so kooky and I so enjoyed the thought of her losing her tail feathers resulting in the expression on her face, The splash of yellow ochre inthe centre is perfect especially with the cute little bird by the side.
Another great entry for feathers.
Hugs, Neet xx

NatureFootstep said...

wow. so many gorgeous creations. I would love to walk around the park and explore them all. :) Especially the mountain lion sculpture

Lowcarb team member said...

The sculptures are amazing.
Enjoy your vacation.

All the best Jan

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

That first photo from your phone shows how vast that area is. Lovely.

Your journal page is so cute! Just adorable, in fact. I love the bird feathers and the stamped ones, too, but that bird was a hoot. Cute and clever, this is a great entry for Neet's theme at Art Journal Journey.

I want that mountain lion. The "fur" on it is incredible. I know it's out of my price range, but a girl can dream. Hope you are enjoying your vacation, dear.

Divers and Sundry said...

More sculptures! Aren't they wonderful!

I look forward to seeing more photos from your trip.

craftytrog said...

A great page and wonderful sculptures Erika. Hope you're enjoying your trip.

The Padre said...

YES

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

I am sure you are having a wonderful trip, Erika, and Utah is a state we also visited briefly on our cross country jaunt several years ago. Looking forward to reading more about your travels.

Let's Art Journal said...

I hope you enjoyed your time in Utah, we've been there a few times and the national parks are amazing 😊. Loving the sculptures that you shared, they look so beautiful. Happy wishes! Hugs Jo x