The Owl and the......

Hello Beautiful People!  

So now we're up to the letter O, and for that letter, I remembered my friend Edward Lear who inspired these books: 

 Apparently, this book has come to life in Japan! 

Here's my little poem about the owl with his oboe. 

 O is for Oscar
who just could not sleep.
He'd practice his oboe
rather than counting sheep.

O! An owl who ought to observe his bedtime!

 There are too many wonderful owl species to choose from, so I went more cartoonish with our friend Oscar, giving him rainbow chest feathers and ears. Here's a detail shot when I was painting the feathers in:

 At this juncture, I've made all of the figures for the book and just need to paint them in the next few weeks. I'm still on schedule for my late November release, and for you Kickstarter backers reading this who pledged for sculpture rewards, I will contact you in September once the book is sent off to the printer to get going on your projects. Here's a studio shot of most of the elements I'll be painting in the coming weeks: 

 So now I will fly off into the sunset, but not without leaving another owl video for your amusement. 

take care,
Hilary

We're Up all Night to get Fun-Q-ie!

Hello Beautiful People!

We're coming down the homestretch with the last eight birds underway!  Today's post will reveal our Q bird--which wasn't that hard, but finding an instrument that started with a Q.......?  Well, I'm happy with my choice for this one. 

 Q is for Quincy
world renowned disco queen,
she strummed funky pop hits
on a rhinestone qinqin!

So.....for those of you unfamiliar with ancient Chinese instruments......a qinqin is a three (or four) stringed guitar-type instrument, as exemplified by the YouTube master playing for a captive audience: 

 I found a nice image online of a beautifully designed qinqin as such: 

 and based mine on that design as such: 

 Apparently, birds are no stranger to roller skates: 

(xoxoxoxo Carol Spinney!)

Growing up in the 70's, I really loved to roller skate. I wasn't into fancy tricks or anything, but really loved the free feeling it embodied.  Here's a few videos I found to show you what I mean. 

 Back soon with the letter O!  

take care,
Hilary