Blog/News

Nests-How did it all begin?

&

Is there an evolution?

This is the nest that started it all and it sold before I had time to name it.

6X8"

Ruthie, as the proud owner of one of the nest series, I'd like to know everything about them. I suppose I could begin by asking how you began them. You must have run into somebody's little home and decided to capture it. Not surprising given your fascination with buildings! (I'm being only partly facetious.) I also want to know how and whether client and viewer feedback had any role in the series' evolution. And en fin, how on earth did you paint all those myriad straws and weeds? Boggling.

  Sidney Oliver

This might be kind of fun to go back through how all of this evolved. I suspect the images will be almost as plentiful as the words.

Back on June 3, 2013, I took the above photograph and I posted the photograph on Facebook. I've checked the comments and can't find this, but someone told me shortly after I posted it that I needed to paint it. I had no intention of doing such a thing.

I must have been hard up to find something to paint because on June 6, I posted the photograph of the first nest painting. It is a 6X8" oil on Ampersand's Gessobord and is featured at the top of this post. Within 45 minutes a person emailed to ask if he could purchase it.

And thus, it began.

In the beginning, I really tried to be accurate because I know nothing about birds and their nesting habits, hence, the even number of eggs in the first two paintings rather than the design rule to always have odd numbers. After a while, I felt confined and frustrated with the attempt for accuracy. I now make up most of it unless I see a nest that intrigues me such as the monochromatic painting discussed in the post on Accuracy or Artistry and in one I'm working on now which is covered in lichen.

Within one year, I painted ten nests. I knew if I continued in this fashion, I would burn out quickly, so I slowed the pace and now I do only 1 or 2 a year. I want to feel excited about each nest and I try to vary the nests. The technique has been perfected somewhat through the years, but that would be a natural progression as new ideas are attempted. The sizes range from 3X5" to 36X48."

A scarf for charity was made using my nest paintings. 

I have not looked at that first nest in quite a while and I notice that no palette knife work was used. Now I use my hands, brushes, palette knives, and anything I can find that will produce the effect I desire, hence the "myriad straws and weeds." At first, people were offering suggestions and the one that stuck was, "You don't want to be known as a painter of only nests." Boy, was that true! I didn't want to be a one-hit wonder. Another reason to slow down on the nests.

Let's see what we've got here. There is no reason to post all of them, but I'll choose some that show a variation in technique and comment on them.

Two by Two

12X12"

This was the second nest painting. It was larger with more going on.

Rockin' Robin

18X24"

5th Nest. Much larger and the straw was lighter. I seem to still be striving for accuracy. By naming a bird, I'm limiting myself. Obvious palette knife work.

Three's a Crowd

18X36"

6th Nest. Larger still. Bolder. Dramatic with those tendrils of straw branching out against the gem-like colored background on the left.

The Wee Nest

12X16"

7th Nest. The only time, so far, that I've used a branch as a well-known, at least in these parts, birder loaned this to me. Dramatic background colors were used. This birder told me that he thinks I live in a bird oasis due to all of the birds and nests that keep appearing around my studio.

I guess the nest paintings were inevitable. 

Five and Twenty Blackbirds

36X48"

11th Nest. It's a whopper! Some lichen was used. Light straw with a very dark background on the left.

Odd Man In

24X36"

12th Nest. A cowbird is a parasite bird as it lays an egg in another bird's nest. Variations on materials used for the nest. I'm still trying for accuracy here.

The Last Resort

30X40"

15th Nest. Looking at this one is almost like looking at a maze. A curator called it "mesmerizing."

Light and Free

9X12"

17th Nest. This was done using pen & ink, watercolor, and oil on paper. 

Over Easy

8X8"

20th Nest. Multiple eggs aren't required to create a painting. Note the purple, which adds another dimension.

Abundance

36X36"

21st Nest. This came about because I ordered the wrong frame size. I shake my head when I think back on the ordeal I went through to order the board and prepare everything before I even began the painting process. The painting quite glistens and all that trouble was time well-spent.

Until this post, I had no idea how many nests I had painted and the count is now at 22. If interested, Sid's painting (Number 22) has been discussed in the earlier post on Accuracy or Artistry. It's been fun for me to review the evolution. Thanks to my studio Facebook page for enabling me to check the timeline. At times, Facebook does come in handy.

I am sold out of nest paintings at the moment, but I am working on Number 23. I build up layers upon layers, letting each layer dry before tackling another. It has developed into a very long, involved endeavor unlike what you see in my first nests. The nests of today offer detailed, more realistic work in the eggs as well as some abstractness and a certain wildness with the nest areas. The background can vary between the esoteric and serene to the bold and almost brash. I hope the months' and perhaps years' long wait is worth it.

With this many nests under my non-existent belt and by slowing down my output, I can safely say that I still

Enjoy the process!

  Ruthie Windsor-Mann 

Note: The discussion continues in the comment section. 

This post is part of a series of Q & As between Ruthie Windsor-Mann and Sidney Oliver. 

We invite the reader to join in with other questions in the comments section. This needs to be interactive in order to work.

All photographs are by Ruthie Windsor-Mann unless otherwise credited.

Copyright 2019 Ruthie Windsor-Mann All Rights Reserved