This piece is my MOST sold piece. The Birdhouse. Inspired by Baba Yaga's cottage on bird feet, but using owl legs instead of chicken. It's in Mikey's show because he wanted it as an example of his custom framing. He had it in his show last year, too. We had two people say they wanted to buy it last year. Neither of them were able to follow through.
One of them was sure she was committed, but then at some point she must have changed her mind, because when I tried to follow up with her about it, her response was to send me random youtube links. That's OK.
This year, the person who wanted to buy it followed through immediately. She paid in full already, and will be back on Sunday as the show ends to pick it up. She may even get another piece, she mentioned. That's amazing. :)
So as of this year, both my fan favourite pieces have moved. I wish I had more time to dedicate to my own work! Gotta get more out there. Lol. No, I'm really happy with how much appreciation my work's been getting this year. And no small amount of kudos to Mikey, too. His frame really augments the piece. This photo is not the greatest angle to see the bark inlay, but it adds an extra dimension to the whole piece. I'm very proud of him.
And he sold this birdhouse, too!
This one is called The Orange House. It's named for the stain used to tint it. There are four of these birdhouses in the show. Onion House, Orange House, Copper House, and Walnut House. We made the orange stain at home using orange rinds. I thought I was helping create a stain using a naturally occurring pigment, but it turns out as I found out afterward that most oranges we enjoy in North America are pigmented to be orange so that we'll find them more appealing. Same with cheddar cheese.
So... the colour we leeched out of those peels may have been additive instead of natural, but either way it's considered edible by North American standards, so there's that.
Onion skins make a stunning reddish brown stain, if you can believe it. Boil 'em in a pot, and when the water starts to roil, add in some baking soda. I think it's about a tsp of baking soda per cup of skins, but don't quote me on that. That's something to look up when you try it for yourself. Avocado pits and skins can make a blood colour. It dries brownish as well, like blood. Same directions as onion skins, basically.
For copper, you can put copper into a jar with vinegar and peroxide to get a nice aquamarine topical stain. You can also put old nails or iron-based steel wood into vinegar to make a tannin-reactive dark stain. Ontario is home to many huge black walnut trees, who drop their lime-like fruits in mid to late summer. Not only can you open and eat those nuts if you're intrepid enough (and faster than the squirrels and bugs) but you can also rot the flesh of these fruits into a dark, dark, dark natural stain.
I give away these secrets freely, because even though we do have a few stain jars here for sale, they're worth more to us to use than they are to sell. They're worth more to us to teach others how to be creative in more eco-friendly ways than they are to sell. And it's pretty cool how many things that grow around you are hiding little secrets like this.
As ever, we welcome support in the form of visitors, of kind words, of sales, and of donations. Want to keep the arts alive? Feed an artist!
https://ko-fi.com/rachelsvparry