Just before Christmas I finished off this stunning hybrid quilled collaged pink flamingo. It was a spur of the moment project that I actually started because an old friend of mine had expressed how much she loved flamingos and I (at the time) had planned to surprise her with this as a gift. As it turns out, a more recent, but very dear friend saw this and fell in love. It didn’t really matter who it went to in the end, but I am very glad that this went to someone that I think so very much of.
I wasn’t sure how to fill in the background, but when I placed it on a plain blue background, it just felt lackluster so I started thinking of ways to jazz it up. My first attempt was to collage various shades of blue printed paper. When it was done, it was “okay” but not as vibrant as I’d hoped. So I dug out a much brighter shade of blue that didn’t have a print and began tearing pieces of it and collaging over the original background. This was the perfect color to complement the bright pink.
I rarely get to create for friend’s so this was a really great experience for me. The flamingo went to someone who will truly appreciate it – and hopefully have more meaning than some random art from a stranger. It was kind of interesting to find out after the fact that the friend who bought this piece uses flamingo in at least one of her social media handles. How appropriate is it that this went to her!
After creating this beautiful bird, I decided to create a couple of flamingo tutorials. One design I have already created features four flamingos standing in a group. It’s super cute and I am on the brink of testing it out. After that I plan to make a large version, similar to this particular quilled collaged pink flamingo. People are always asking for tutorials, so I am trying to add to my offerings.
