For this month at Art Journal Journey my friend Chris has chosen "All Kinds of Weather" as her topic for the month. I am going to enjoy this and hope I can marry it to the quotes for the Dyan inspired pages Wendy and I do each Thursday. Today the quote I am using is "Until you spread your wings you have no idea how far you'll fly" and my page is set in a farmyard where two members of the fowl family are having a chatter. Not sure I am happy with either the page or the story this week - sorry folks.
To begin with I used my Distress Oxides as watercolours, Rusty Hinge and Carved Pumpkin for the ground and Tumbled Glass and Broken China for the sky area. I then stamped, with Momento's London Fog (grey), a Farmhouse and a couple of trees to represent them being in the distance. Figures were coloured, as usual, with Promarkers and I did the writing with a Posca Pen.
"It was a lovely day in the farmyard when Dilys found young Sara in tears by the old tree. Sara was the smallest of the chickens in Mr Swift's farmyard, the youngest too and a rather timid little thing. She preferred to hang around the chicken coop and sit with the hens. rather than go off with the other chickens having adventures The older hens loved having her with them for company and they would sit and applaud her as she danced around and did little somersaults in the sand on the floor for them.
She was such a good help too and when the shavings and straw were changed in the coop she would help her mum spread them about just as the others liked them. Sometimes there would be some bits of hay in with the straw and Sara knew that it was not good for chickens to be lying in it so she would pick it up in her little beak and move it outside where one of the bigger animals would collect it and take it over it to their corner of the yard.
Sara was liked by most of the other chickens but there were one or two of them jealous of her popularity with the older hens and they would pick on her. Flo and Agnes, a couple of Leghorns, were two much older chickens and they thought they were the best looking of all the fowl there. This was despite Sophie, a Silkie, being undoubtedly a very attractive chick much admired by all and the pride of Farmer Swift's flock.
Dilys was one of the kindest hens, a Rhode island Red, and she asked Sara what on earth was the matter. It turned out that Flo and Agnes had been teasing her because she did not wander around the farmyard like some of the others did, she had never been up by the apple trees, or seen the horses galloping in the field and had certainly not ventured anywhere near the cowshed. They said she was a 'cowardy custard' and they laughed every time she went past them, calling her names.
Dilys sat her down and told her all about the farmyard, what the different areas were like, which were safe and which she should not go anywhere near. Which, of the other animals she could play with, and which she should avoid, not that they would harm her but because they were so much bigger than she was they might just not see a little chicken as they lumbered across the cobbles. "Until you spread your wings you have no idea how far you'll fly" she said.
"But I don't want to fly", said Sara, "I like it here with mum and the other hens".
"Yes", said Dilys, but there is a big world out there and it is waiting for you to explore it, You know how you watch the other chickens at play, well, don't you want to join in with their games sometimes?"
"Yes", said Sara, her little beak trembling.
"Well then, off you go, spread your wings and before you know it you will be flying high"
I can tell you that Sara did listen to Dilys and take her advice and before long she was laughing and playing with the other chickens, much to the delight of the older hens who certainly missed her but were happy she had at last found her wings and flown."
