Louise Wilkinson's Hand-Decorated Ceramics

Louise Wilkinson studied illustration and started her career as a print and textiles designer in the fashion industry in London. Her artwork is inspired by her growing up in a small village in the Yorkshire countryside and her love for animals. In 2012, she started her own design studio and launched of her first collection at Liberty store. Her ceramics are often hand-decorated with owl, rabbit, bird and tree motifs in elegant design style. The classic color palette of navy, coral red, yellow on white fine bone china makes the pieces timeless to be cherished forever! 

Free Owl and Pumpkin Fall Banner

For the next few weeks I'll be sharing the fall themed crafts, tutorials, designs, merchandise and printables for you here. This owl and pumpkin fall banner by Leanna is super easy for kids to make with the little help from the adults. Owls, acorns, plaids, pumpkins and leaves in the seasonal colors with fit your existing fall decor. For the materials, instructions and to print the templates go here.

Amazing Photo Submissions from Bird Photographer of the Year

Best Portfolio. Great Grey Owl by Markus Varesvuo.

Gold. Feeding Flamingos by Alejandro Prieto Rojas.

Birds in the Environment. Silver. Crane flock misty lake by Piotr Chara.

Attention to Detail. Silver. Grey Heron looking under wing by Ahmad Alessa.

Birds in Flight. Gold. Australian Pelican landing on water by Bret Charman.

Birds in Flight. Silver. Red Kite close-up by Jamie Hall.

Birds in Flight. Honorable Mention. Seagulls and Fox by Gabor Kapus.

Best Portfolio. Snowy Owl by Markus Varesvuo.

Bronze. Blurred bird flock by Marc Weber.

Bird Photographer of the Year is an annual competition devoted to the best photographs of the birds through thousands of submissions from all over the world. The competition is a venture between Nature Photographers Ltd and the British Trust for Ornithology open to anyone from a hardened pro to a nature enthusiast. The 2017, the third year of the competition, had fantastic entries from around the globe. The Feeding Flamingos - the winner for this year, the snowy owl camouflaged against the white background and the Great Grey owl in flight were among my favorite photos. 

Felt Portraits of Animals by Dani Ives

Dani Ives is a self-taught fiber artist from Northwest Arkansas and founder of Good Natured Art. She has developed a distinct style of needle felting that she calls "painting with wool." For those of us who don't know, needle felting is a process that involve poking loose wool fibers onto the fabric with a barbed needle thousands of times until the desired image is emerged. It's tremendously time consuming task which needs a lot of patience.

Dani's work has breath-taking detail and realism. She uses wool fibers and a felting needle to create the incredible effects of layered coloring, texture and depth in her pieces. She makes fruits and cactus, but the recurring theme of her work is animals - owl, rooster, donkey and dog seem to be jumping out of the embroidery hoop.

She has taught many students in workshops around the United States and internationally, including a six-week course at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Her upcoming workshop is scheduled for September 23rd in Denver, CO. To register and to find out more information go to her website. You can find her originals and prints on her Etsy store. 

Amazing Artwork by Rebecca Kinkead

'Barn Owl in Flight'

'Landing Mallards'

'Roost'

'Arctic Hare No 2'

'Ermine No 2'

'Doe Winterberry'

'Black Bear Golden Field'

'Barn Owl Hunting'

'Doe Starry Night'

'Grey Wolf'

Good Morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Let's start this week with the amazing artwork of Rebecca Kinkead aka Becky Kinkead an artist who currently lives and works in Vermont. She uses oil paints and wax as a medium that's layered, dripped, scraped with palette-knife technique giving her subject matter movement amidst a snowy meadow or a flowering field.

"Paint and wax are layered, dripped and scraped to create a sense that the subject is still emerging… still 'becoming'."

Her rabbits, pigs, ermine, dogs, and owls are colorful and are rich in texture often "based on memories, both personal and borrowed." She is one of the top-selling artist at several of galleries across the state and around the country. In 2011, Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King each purchased her paintings at a gallery in Park City, Utah. She has participated in many solo and group exhibitions. For her work she has been awarded Jentel Foundation Residency and a Baer Art Center Residency.