The Birds The Birds

13-10-18

I have always doodled birds - on occasion, the doodles have turned to painting. & on occasion they have appeared in compositions. I collected a few from online images and I am astounded! They are everywhere I look, scores and scores of them!
I have decided not to put them into chronological order, but at random. Bird following bird as they seemed to aesthetically or philosophically fit.

I suppose they represent souls to me, or something.

Detail from "the May Apple Ball"
 which I finished in 1998 and showed in "Johnny Eidetic" In the Queens Hall in Narberth.

"My friend the sky"
An Etching made at U.C.E. Margaret Street with Sean O'Keefe,
But originally coming from Bharmor Himachel Pradesh in 1981.

One of two originals!

Burnt etched box top, made in Erdington around 1995.

Again the original idea came from India.

"Who is king of this street?"
Chamba H.P. Spring 81.

Black papier-mache birds on a (multi) clock tower, part of a show in St Martin in the Bull Ring 2002.

These birds had a long history,
I made quite a few which perched on top of a tower I made for a large show called "Radioactive" in a disused x-ray factory in Smethwick in 2003.
They ended up in a children's garden in Heartlands Hospital Birmingham.

Perching on top of "the Throne Room"

The Cock on the top

Start of a set of "beings" cut out with a plasma cutter in Margaret Street

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"The river it rises, just like it used to do. But its full of surprises, it reminds me of you."
From a song by Poco
Which I had in my head as I scribbled this down as an idea in Mysore 1992 - as they opened the floodgates to let out the swelling waters behind the damns.

Detail from "An Afternoon at the zoo"
 painted in Mysore then re-painted in Erdington 1998

"Bird Life"
From Shipping Hill early 2017 herbally influenced.

"Waiting for food"
painted on a houseboat, Dal Lake Kashmir 1983

"Songs of Spring"

Erdington Birmingham 2017

"Taking off"
Later burnt into a bread board.
From the foothills in Himachal Pradesh

*

Pidgeon Pie
Painted in a bedsit in Beckenham ( 1975 ) one happy morning after a particularly uncomfortable and scary session of dental treatment.

Aviator Bird Thoughts.

The beginning of a series of flight patterns started in Northern Kashmir 1981.

June 2017 by Brookvale Lake

Early Spring, and from the Hip.

Park Central Birmingham 2018

Looking into a muddy bird bath

Seen, half-way home

Spring, very definitely on the way.

Stone Bird, Ladak 1981.



Detail from a large mural at Birmingham Central Library.
"The Argonauts"

Cover of the sketch / notebook, I used to keep all the panels together

Village Guardian
"Pastiche" as remarked by Rupert Crane.
At my show in Nuneaten Library 97

Part of a digital conversation I had with Ruth Parke in 2016, covering at times what an artists role was as artist.

Bird after a meal.
Bukkitingi Sumatra 86
Now with Robbin Milne.

From an Autumn dream,
Shipping Hill 2016

Expectant mother
Sirmioni 99.

Birds for a horizontal kitchen door 2015

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"Whole lot of mobbing going on"
Devon 2017.

Papier mache figure from a Chinese Pagoda - currently in progress

The first layers on "Swan Song" A painting about my mother.
The finished product being with Nick South.

Inverted bird
Part of a series I scratched into slate,
Shipping Hill 2016

" Incident on the Drive"
painted in the mid 70's at Shipping Hill.
Painted again for Bert Salter.

A fuzzy detail from "A pleasant Valley" part of a series of paintings depicting Achilles Shield

Domestic Bliss with birds.
From the show "Johnny Eidetic"
Queens Hall Narberth 98

Eagle takes out drone
Birmingham 2018

A crow from Varkala, Kerala 1981.


I keep on finding birds and I keep on finding that I haven't found all the parts to each of the stories.
How big can you make a blog?!