for craft hatch

I will be selling bird head brooches mounted on thin log rounds. These will be a series of australian wrens:
Mallee emuwren (stipitrus mallee), Superb fairy wren (Malurus cyaneus), Purple-backed wren (Malurus assimilis), Lavender-flanked wren (Malurus dulcis), Lilac-crowned wren (Malurus coronatus), Grey grassren (Amytornis barbatus), Lovely wren (Malurus amabilis)

Yesterday I made this head while watching a dodgy saturday afternoon tv movie.
It is a lilac crowned wren (malurus Coronatus). It is Nuno felt, made using alpaca fleece, hand stitched with bright purple thread.

The cut rounds are from a wattle tree which came down in a storm. As the timber is still green, I'm seasoning it in the oven.Unfortunately for one batch I had the temperature up too high and split most of the rounds. Because of that, I know 50-80 degrees is a good range to work in. After reducing the moisture content, these will be sanded, shellaced and varnished.

I anticipate the brooches to look simliar to the above picture, only the log rounds will be varnished.

nuno, nuno, nuno

I spent the early part of the afternoon making some nuno felt. I layed out my pre selected colour palette.

Superb fairy wren: I love the electric blue of the suri lock!





Crimson Rosella: For a mounted head. I went silk crazy, lavishing vivid bougainvillea purple raw silk. Can't wait to work with this....and i've never made a parrot shaped beak either...ooohhh...

Butterfly base: ulysses and cairns birdwing. This clour block will be cut up and sewn to make wings. The butterflies will be used along side Bogon Moths as icing for a tiered cake. mmmm insecty....


My mum helped me, as we worked on the 3 pieces at the same time. It was like having an apprentice which was awesome...but strange as mum is the one with more knowledge, and I still ask her 'Is this right?' or 'more water?'

Hummingbird

I can finally get down to making a felt hummingbird...Heat wave over... A couple of weeks ago i finished nuno felting the colour scheme i will use to make a Rufous Hummingbird. They have amazing irridescent quality to their feathers, and I find that rather exciting to try to replicate.
Below is one of these awesome birds and a photo my felt scheme.

Til Death Us Do Part

Male and female fairy wren (life size), nuno felted with alpaca and silk fibres, beady eyes and bloody canvas.

Malarus Cyaneus

This idea came about from an exhibition proposal with Katie Jacobs and Rohani Osman entitle New Holland (Veni Vidi Vici)

It is a mounted head of a superb fairy wren on a slice of pine.
The body is bits of hand made felt sewn together with a vivid blue thread. It has been nuno felted on to black silk using alpaca fleece, suri locks and gold silk fibres.
The mount is a piece of pine i found around the farm. It has been sanded, has a few coats of shellac and topped with gloss.

I ended up giving this to a friend for their birthday.