DIY Owl Assemblage and Necklace

The February theme from Art Elements is Birds of Prey. I was initially thrown off when I saw the title of the theme reveal. But, on reading Cathy's post and realizing that, of course, owls are included in the "Birds of Prey" category, I knew I had my focus for the challenge. I love owls. I'm sure it stems partly from the fact that several of my favorite movies include owls: Labyrinth and Harry Potter to name two.  

As a jewelry artist, my first inclination was to start with jewelry, and I did. But, in further pondering the talent of the members of the Art Elements Team and knowing that the challenge is open to any medium, I let my thoughts wander into how I could push myself with this challenge. Once I hit upon the idea of making an assemblage piece, my creativity was a force to be reckoned with. I put the jewelry piece aside and went into full-speed creation. (Don't fret, I did complete the necklace in time for this reveal.)

Without further thought, I ran into my husband's shop looking for scrap wood as a base for my assemblage piece. After testing out an assortment of salvaged jewelry and other found objects, the scrap wood was sanded, covered in gesso, and painted a blue-black. Then the process of gluing down the assembled elements with E6000 began.

As has been my habit as of late, I recorded the process of creating my Art Assemblage Owl to share with you. 

There were a few hiccups as you will see in the video, but once everything was glued down and dry. I was absolutely smitten with the piece. I have been itching for this reveal.

Since I did get the wood from my husband, and I knew the piece would be destined for our own home, I enlisted Pat's help for some of the decision-making on the piece. In fact, he was the one who came up with the idea of using buckles for the feet and suggested that I put a second layer of keys on the body for a layered feather feel. 

He also loves what I did with the chain on the head and that I used a rusty drill bit for the beak.

As well, he's planning on creating a frame for our owl to make it easier to hang and give it a more finished feel. But, my part in its creation is complete. 

I love it so much!

As for the necklace that had been set aside, I started by searching through my stash for an owl pendant but came up empty-handed. So, I knew I had to create my own.

Since I do love working with paper, especially old books and dictionaries, I found the image of an owl in a student dictionary and clipped it to fit behind a piece of glass. To block out the majority of the rest of the words from the page, a frame was created with wood scrapbook paper. 

I was at a loss as to what to place on the back of the pendant but decided that the starry sky in which owls fly would be simple and beautiful. A piece of black paper my niece had colored with metallic paints was uncovered and seemed perfect for this use. 

The paper stack was glued together, sandwiched between the glass, and soldered together. 

To keep the owl as the focal and the necklace as simple as possible, I created a black chain with glass beads and annealed steel wire.

Though the initial prompt of this challenge filled me with trepidation, I cannot thank Cathy enough for the theme. I've come away from it with not only a beautiful owl necklace but also a stunning art piece for my house. Thank you, Cathy!! Please make sure to hop around to the other participants in this challenge and enjoy what they've created for it.

Guests: 

Tammy, Beth, Cat, Anita, Kathy, Alysen, Linda, Rozantia, Jennifer, Hope (you're here), Sarajo, Melissa, Sarah 

Team Members:

 Caroline, Cathy, Claire, Jen, Jenny, Karen, Laney, Lesley, Lindsay, Marsha, Niky, Sue

I've shared this post at the following link parties: Mad Skills.