Robin Eggs

ROBIN EGGS are warm and comforting. It might be their color, or tiny size, or maybe what they represent – new beginnings. For me, they are a means of time travel, an instant journey back to a 10-year old me.

I GREW UP on a vineyard. Each spring, my brothers and I would grab our little notepads and, in my organized manner even back then, traverse the rows, searching for birds' nests. We very carefully peeked into each vine, documenting each find, and then following the progress of each nest until, at last, all the baby birds flew away.

SOME EGGS didn't hatch, while others were eaten by small mammals or other birds. And it always broke my heart to scribble, "Dead hatchling– not strong enough." Occasionally we got to see the parents feed worms or bugs to the babies. It was so exciting I couldn't sleep some nights.

SOON the nests were empty, and we moved on to new adventures. We ditched our notepads and found other ways to amuse ourselves, not giving nests another thought – until the next year, when it would seem like just the best idea all over again.

I painted Robin Eggs on 16 x20 hardboard panel, which I cut with a jigsaw.

Blue Window 4

Well, finally – here is the finished painting. I finished it 2 days after the last photo, but it's been raining ever since! I like to take my photos outside. While shooting this I leaned it up next to a wall and I liked how it looked, so tomorrow I am going to shoot it hanging on the red shed next door. It needs a background in order to make prints. Thank you Jerry Jonnum for the hook- I love it.

Blue Window 3

To do the lace, I printed the lace exact size and taped it over painting – placing a sheet of carbon paper between print of lace and painting. With a ball point pen I marked the dots. To paint the dots with acrylic paint I use a #1 point brush that I have let paint dry on. The hairs are stuck dry and only the tip touches the painting. (I discovered this great use of a ruined brush because I am quite lazy when it comes to clean-up time.) The lace you see so far took a whole work day to complete.