GSL Cuts: bird lady

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

bird lady

Hello everyone, today I am sharing "bird lady," an inspired santos doll.
For me, some of the first sure signs of spring are the birdsongs. I love seeing the robins, with their feathers still fluffed for warmth, come out and grace the landscape. Then, ever so gradually, many other species arrive to join in the song.
It definitely brings hope and eager anticipation for the warmer days ahead.
This is the inspiration behind "bird lady."

I begin with a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts santos doll. This set arrives flat; I carefully remove the pieces and wipe off the residue from the laser cuts. Next, I like to assemble the piece (without glue) into it's three dimensional form so that I understand how it will look as a finished piece. This allows me to visualize which finishes to use as well as helps to focus my ideas.

Once I have settled on a theme, I disassemble the piece. One side of each part is painted with raw umber paint. The two flat circular disks are painted on both sides. When the paint has dried, using collage medium, I cover the unpainted sides with french book pages from my stash. This paper will serve as a base that I will layer over.

While the adhesive is drying, I put together the tiny bird box and tiny bird houses. Each of these sets contains pieces to make either: two tiny bird boxes, or two tiny bird houses. For this project, I have used one set of tiny bird boxes and two sets of tiny bird houses. The pieces are very small; however, they are fairly easy to put together. On the bird houses, one of the roof planes is just a bit longer than the other. When you assemble the house, be sure that the longer piece overlaps the edge of the smaller roof plane. I have added tiny shingles standard to the roof on one of the bird houses. The bird houses are painted with a mustard yellow color and then dry brushed with brown paint to create an aged wood look. The bird box is finished in a similar manner, but using a tuscan red color as a base. The roof of the bird box is painted with copper paint. A very small screw eye is attached to the center of each of the bird house roofs.

Collage tissue paper is adhered over the book pages in a random pattern along the cage pieces of the santos' skirt. An image of a bird is collaged onto the bodice. The collage tissue is covered with distress collage medium to ensure translucency as well as a seamless transition. The edges of the pieces are sanded and then inked with brushed corduroy distress ink.

A branch is wedged into the santo's skirt and a small nest is secured into the "V" created by the twiggy branch. Three small eggs are safely tucked into the nest.

The bird houses hang from chains grasped by the bird lady's petite hands.

She wears the bird box on her back, inviting another family to make it their home. Gold swirls and dots adorn the back side of the torso and arms.

The bird lady's hair is an upside-down nest. Placed on her head and secured with collage medium. Resting atop, is a robin preparing to take flight on a new adventure;