Lovebirds

Today I stopped by my favorite local used bookstore before heading off to work.  I picked up  an awesome 12th edition of Gardner's Art Through the Ages,  Brunelleschi's Dome and a stack of discounted aquarium & bird handbooks.  The colors are so saturated and unreal in the lovebird & parrakeet guide (not to be confused with parakeets as the author politely warned in the preface). I cut out a few of the images for collage material but am leaving the rest intact for a drawing resource & color scheme inspiration.

While I was studying abroad in 2006, there were green parrots that used to fly around behind the villa where we lived in Italy.  I'd see them every once in awhile out the window of my bedroom & it seemed like a dream.  The collage to the left is nostalgic & brand new for Saturday's art fair.  It is a carborundum monoprint with found paper, type, ink & foil seals.  I've had this little container of gold foil seals for years now, purchased for a mere 25 cents in South Dakota.  It should be noted that every semester after I give the Byzantine lecture to my art history classes, I tend to use lots of gold in my art for the following weeks...