Thu, April 5
#watercolor #watercolour #sketches #art #birds #ornithology #birds #Isaac Spraque #nature #1840 #kingfisher #Connecticut Warbler #chipmunk #Prunus serotina #sparrow #American Goldfinch #Screech Owl #owl #witherod #snow bunting #golden winged woodpecker #yellow-shafted flicker #cat bird #cedar waxwing
Sprague’s Natural History:
Watercolour sketches by Isaac Sprague from the 1840s.
First image: Connecticut Warbler - The single bird is depicted perched on a flowering branch of witch hazel.
Kingfisher - A single kingfisher is depicted perched on a bare branch.
Prunus serotina - A branch of the black cherry tree is depicted with seven leaves in autumn color.
Chipping Sparrow - The sparrow is perched on a flowering branch which also holds a nest containing four blue-green eggs. The background is deep brown.
Screech Owl - Red Owl - A single owl is depicted perched on a branch holding a rodent with the claw of its right foot.
American Goldfinch - The goldfinch is perched on a stalk of chicory.
Witherod - Two details of witherod (Viburnum cassinoides), a shrub also known as wild raisin. One detail of the leaves and flower, another of the leaves and fruit.
Cat Bird - A single bird is depicted perched on a branch. Virginia creeper in fall color is twisted around the branch.
Black Throated Green Warbler - A single male bird is depicted on a branch of red maple with seeds.
Snow Bunting - Two snow buntings are depicted, one on the gruond and another in flight.
Golden Winged Woodpecker - A single bird is shown perched on a bare branch. ‘Golden winged woodpecker’ and the date are inscribed in graphite at the bottom of the sheet below the image. The bird depicted is now known as the yellow-shafted flicker.
Cedar Waxwing - The cedar waxwing is depicted perched on a branch of chokecherry. There are no notations on the sheet.
Chipmunk - The chipmunk is perched on an ear of corn. The date is written in graphite below the chipmunk’s tail.
“Isaac Sprague (1811–1895) was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, and apprenticed with his uncle as a carriage painter. He was a self-taught landscape, botanical and ornithological painter. Sprague served as one of the assistants to John James Audubon on an ornithological expedition up the Missouri River (1843), taking measurements and making sketches. His diary of this expedition is in the Boston Athenæum.”
The Great Omar Peacock by The Makerie Studio.
Life size reproduction of a peacock inspired by the cover of The Great Omar, a collection of Persian poems known as the most precious volume ever bound. The sculpture was produced for London paper merchants Shepherds Bookbinders using papers from their range, and is currently displayed in their Mayfair store.
I cannot express in words how much I love this.
The White Omar by The Makerie Studio.
The White Omar (or whatever its called) is a piece that explores the structure and form of patterns and shapes previously developed for an existing piece, The Great Omar, as a way of stripping back colour to highlight contours and light play across the surfaces. Currently being developed as a centre piece for a London boutique display. Photographs by Nathan Gallagher.
The paper sculptures by The Makerie Studio are absolutely breathtaking. I’d love to create something as detailed and beautiful as this.
Love is… by Efi Tolia.
Painted Bunting by A Bird In The Hand aka Jenny Chang.
“A tray that I painted a couple of years ago. It was the first bird that I had ever painted and I did it by following a step-by-step out of a songbird painting book. We still have it in our apartment because I don’t think I could part with it.”
Birds of Paradise by Laurel Roth.
2009
Mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
50” diameter by 50” tall
Azul by Ysabel Lemay.
Forster by Catherine Nelson.
I love this little collection called What Birds Do When We Aren’t Looking by Marc Johns.
See the rest here.
