My Owl Barn: 2015-02-01

Friday, February 6, 2015

Brad Wilson: Affinity

Eastern Screech Owl

Mexican Spotted Owl

Eurasian Eagle Owl

Western Screech Owl

Flammulated Owl

Long Eared Owl

Spectacled Owl

Great Horned Owl

Barn Owl

Santa Fe, New Mexico based photographer Brad Wilson takes stunning close-up portraits of wild animals, birds and owls in his studio and made a series of these photographs titled Affinity. He has photographed 65 animal species out of which 12 are of different types of owls. The birds were from two wildlife sanctuaries and were recovering from various injuries.

Owls were the most challenging subjects - Wilson shares. "It’s not easy to get owls to mug for the camera. Even in captivity the birds remain aloof, unruffled by the flash and unmoved by attempts to bribe them. [Brad Wilson] spent hours with each bird, trying to capture its direct gaze. “It’s hard to get animals to look at you like humans do,” he says. […] It takes years of building mutual trust before an owl will accept physical contact from a single person, says Wilson, and “owls don’t extend that privilege to other humans.” - via.

You can read all about his project and the animals he photographed in this interview he gave to Photo Eye. On the same website you can find large limited edition prints of his photographs that available for purchase. He has also published a photo book for these projects titled Wild Life.

Vintage Vans Shoes

A rare pair of Vans, Van Doren shoes from the late 1960s - early 1970s featuring needlepoint owl design. These gorgeous shoes were custom made in the US in size 61/2, likely to be one-of-a-kind. From here.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Embossing Rolling Pins

"MJ Rolling Pin" is an online store that sells rolling pins with unique and fun patterns. Some of my favorites are owl, cat, dinosaurs, wolf and turtle. The rolling pins are made with natural beech wood to ensure food safety. They'll will not change color or crack over time! If you are planning to bake something at home for your next themed party then you can also place a custom order by contacting Judy the designer behind "MJ Rolling Pin."

"Floral Owl" Bath Accessories

"Floral Owl" by Circo is a lovely collection of bathroom accessories featuring sleeping owl and heart motif in pastel blue, pink and yellow. The collection offers - owl waste basket, soap pump, shower curtain, bath rug, toothbrush and more! There couldn't be a better timing of releasing this collection. You can pick one or more products as these will make a sweet Valentine's Day decor for your bathroom and perfect to spruce up a kid's bathroom.

You can find all the items from the range and more at Target.com.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Rebecca Szeto: "Totems" Series

"Barn Owl 1"

"Barn Owl 2"

"Owl"

"Raptur"

"Redtail Hawk"

"Mask"

"Her Exquisite Pain"

Rebecca Szeto is an artist living and working in San Francisco, California. She received her B.A. degree from UC Berkeley in 1992. For over the past two decades, she has continued independent studies under mentors and artists Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronskyin in Italy and South Africa, and working alongside renowned Venda master wood carvers such as Paul Thavanha and Thomas Kubayi. The shown pieces are from the "Totems" series which is a collection of hand carved wood into figural shapes and birds. The entire sculpture can measure as small as 8" in height, 1" wide and .75" in diameter. Each piece of the raw wood is brought to life by the artist who transforms them into incredibly-detailed hand-painted portraits.

From Rebecca Szeto's website: "My work plays with subtle shifts of perception and provides open-ended, visual prompts that encourage creative interaction and completion from the viewer. I explore states of "in-between" and transformation through conflated realities. Initially, the viewer recognizes one thing, but on looking closer, realizes something is curiously awry."

She has participated in solo as well as group exhibitions both in the US and other countries. Her work has been included in several publications, and has received awards like the Banff Merit Scholarship and the Pamela Joseph Merit Fellowship for Minority Artists. Her work can be found in private collection in Denmark, England, France, Italy and USA.

Make sure your visit her website to see more of her past projects, especially "Paintbrush Portraits" collection for which Rebecca Szeto uses old paintbrushes to create gorgeous portraits of renaissance ladies. She has a Facebook page where she posts about her upcoming shows and new work, if you would like to join.

Easy Oreo Owl Valentines

With this easy Oreo Owls recipe making treats this Valentine's day will be fun! Just grab a bag of Oreo cookies and a handful of other ingredients like white candy, orange food coloring and chocolate chips to make your own owl treats in only a few minutes! These are so adorable to make for kids and will make a great handmade treat for your sweetheart.

To learn tip and tricks to make these cuties go here.

Cute Valentine Printables

Love is Owl You Need Valentine

I’ll Owl-Ways Love You Valentine

Tara of A Spectacled Owl designed two cute owl cards that are perfect to give this Valentine's Day. They are great for your kid to take to school or attach them on the gift you plan on giving this 14th. Each print out sheet will give you 8 cards, so print as many as you want. Go to the link above to download and print your owl Owlsome valentine cards!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Hand Felted Tea Cozies

I recently discovered the wonderful work of Jannio, a felt artist living in the south west of France. She hand-felts a variety of everyday use products from hats, scarves, bags to tea cozies. The range of hand-knitted animal tea cozies are loving created with designs including owl, cat, chicken, snail and more. These cozies made from merino wool are great to bring whimsy to your breakfast table and to keep the teapot hot!

Printable Owl and Whale Valentine Cards

You can download these sweet Valentine cards for your little ones featuring their favorite character! The kids can use these to write a small message and take'em to school for their friends. The cards come in two adorable characters - owl and whale each measuring 5" x 5". To download and print go to Hello, Wonderful.

Cute and Easy Animal Muffins

Jill of Meet the Dubiens loves to create cute bento boxes for her children and shares them on her wonderful blog. She came up with this fun idea of making super cute animal muffins for her daughter's school lunch box. You can find the recipe to make the muffins and the instructions to decorate them on her blog following the link given above. These muffins are made with the most delicious ingredients such as heart sprinkles, chocolate jimmies and chocolate melting wafers. Is your mouth-watering yet?

These little guys are perfect to whip up for an animal themed baby shower, birthday party, and even will make a great handmade treat for your sweetheart this Valentine's day!