MANY of the resources that I collage with are gifted to me. This is true of the birds I made this past fall in preparation for this years invitational at Smith And Vallee Gallery in Edison.

My daughter sent me some vintage National Geographic Magazines and one of them published in 1977 had this article about James Audubon. I bet you can imagine my gasp when I turned the page to this tremendous Great Cinereous Owl!! Or to the other remarkable examples of his paintings. These fantastic image references made for a fun and deep dive into this years collection of stitched bird collages. 

I had also altered some pages ...another National Geographic project. Combining that chemically altered paper into my strip pallet, I found that the owl and others came together just beautifully. 

This other Audubon print was also a gift. I had so much fun making it into 12x12 stitched collage. I love the vintage feel of it. 

In the end I could not decide which to submit to the invitational so I put it to a vote. The owl won! Closely followed by the doves. 

I love driving the mini road trek to Edison. Each time I try and revisit some of my favorite spots, and as art was making its way into the gallery on drop off day, I took a few photos of some favorites.

100 artists participate in this annual bird themed invitational. Participating always has me feel like I belong or that I am part of something. 

If curious....here is a link to last years BIRDS