Carved Animals by Sandra Healy

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Artfire Collections: Oct 29-31

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Ground Beetles Airbrush Painting


One day when I was running on the logging roads near home, I spotted some beetles in a nice uneven circle eating something which looked like the remains of a banana slug. Scattered under them were old redwood branchlets of a lovely orange hue. I snapped the photo with my little camera carried in my running pack. That was a few years ago; a few days ago I remembered the photo and decided to recreate it as a painting done with airbrush. It's about 5 by 7 inches.

I don't carve any beetles, in fact my Artfire studio is sadly lacking in insects. I do have a couple of butterflies (Monarch, Acmon Blue, and Blue) and also related to this painting have a Banana Slug.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

More AF Collections! Oct. 25-26



    Saturday, October 23, 2010

    Overlapping Fawns Airbrush Painting

    Another airbrush painting, this one is about 5 x 7. There is still a lot to learn about painting a scene like this with the airbrush. It was interesting to overlap the fawns. Is it one fawn at two different times? A friend said it reminded her of the way deer will be eating, then hear something and suddenly look up. What do you think?

    I overworked this a little too much, and am thinking of trying it again.

    In my Artfire studio I don't have any fawns, but do have Buck Deer Wood Carving and Doe deer wood carvings.

    Artfire Collections: Oct 20-23

    Turkeys seem to be popular in Artfire Collections these autumn days! 

    There are a lot of these this time, so I haven't included all the photos. But the links on the animal names will lead you so a whole series of photos of each animal. The link on the name of each Collection, goes to that collection of 12 items from different studios.

      Tuesday, October 19, 2010

      Fawn and Doe Airbrush Painting


      Fawn and Doe Airbrush Painting
      Originally uploaded by sandrahealy

      Painting this was quite fun. I learned a few new techniques. At first I was going to use some old frisket film I had lying around, but it was too old and was no longer sticky. I ordered more, and anticipate more fun seeing what I can to with it. I had tried it for my animal carvings but it didn't work very well on the three dimensional shape. For this painting I used some art masking fluid, which I also use from time to time on the sculptures. This painting is 4 by 6 inches.

      Artfire Collections: Oct 19

      Wild Turkey Carving
      Galapagos Tortoise
      I'm so honored to have my artwork chosen for these lovely collections:
      Nashville Warbler
      • "The Chambered Nautilus--Beautiful in Any Medium", curated by Coolstraps  (Nautilus carving) "Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;
        Wrecked is the ship of pearl!
        And every chambered cell,
        Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
        As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,
        Before thee lies revealed,
        Lazuli Bunting
        Nautilus

        Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!--Oliver Wendell Holmes"  THIS MADE THE FRONT PAGE OF ARTFIRE ON OCTOBER 21!!

      Monday, October 18, 2010

      Airbrush Art, another painting

      I tried another airbrush painting today. This is 4" x 6".

      I've searched for other artists using airbrush for fine art, but most of what I can find are more commercial applications. The subjects seem to be cars and machinery as well as fantasy and science fiction. Not a bit of nature to be found. If any of my readers know of any such airbrush art, I'd really like to know about it.

      Sunday, October 17, 2010

      More AF Collections!

      Lazuli Bunting Carving
      "Wacky and Wonderful Wings", curated by susannaoriginals "A celebration of birds, some with a sense of humor, all perfect gifts for the bird lover on your list." (Lazuli Bunting)
      Chickadee carving

      "My Little Chickadee", curated by ShadowDogDesigns "There is just something so alluring, so "alive" about chickadees. I was watching them in the trees near by bird feeder this morning and was charmed all over again by their personalities. Hope you enjoy these beautiful creations by very talented artists!" (Black-capped Chickadee)
      Bison Carving

      "Things I Like", curated by HandmadebySheri "I just wondered around ArtFire to find things I liked." (American Bison)

      Friday, October 15, 2010

      Painting a scene with airbrush

      This was an interesting experiment! Should I try more of this kind of thing? Though I've used the airbrush for painting wood carvings for years, I've never tried it for a two-dimensional scene. This is quite small, just 3.5 by 4 inches.

      It started out slightly bigger, 4 x 6, but I spilled a blot of red ink off to the right and ended up cutting off that section. Also added an accidental black blot half way up the big dark tree, so tried to incorporate that in my painting.

      If I do more of this I certainly will have to be more careful to not get unintended drips on it!

      Thursday, October 14, 2010

      Artfire Collections: Oct. 13-14

      Wild Turkey Carving
      I'm happy to share with you some more Artfire Collections! It's such a pleasure to have my shop, SandraHealy, included. A curator chooses a dozen items, fitting a theme, from different artists, so do check out the links to them. To not clutter my blog too much, I'm just including a small photo of my item which is included in each Collection.
      Barn Owl Carving
      American Crow


       "Quoth the Raven", curated by ShadowDogDesigns "Ravens . . . Crows . . . Halloween! Enjoy these beauties!" (American Crow)


      Blue Tit Carving

      • "Trim the Tree!", curated by SuzanneStevens  "The stores and malls and, yes, Artfire, is already decked out for Christmas festivities! Seeing this always brings back memories of trimming our family tree with a myriad of ornaments: some heirlooms, some handmade, and new heirlooms-to-be. There's an abundance of beautiful Christmas ornaments available on AF...so many that many collections could be curated on that topic alone. Here is a small sampling of many that I found to be 'favorites'." (Blue Tit Carving)
      • Quail Pair Carving
      • "Just The Two Of Us!", curated by GoldBracelets "Good things do come in pairs. And I know a lot of us handicrafters and artisans here at ArtFire are Empty Nesters, so I found quite a few beautiful items with couples and pairs! Once again, I found quite a few new and very interesting ArtFire Artisans. I do hope you enjoy browsing their pages!" (Quail Couple Carving)
      Tiger Carving

      Whooping Crane

      Tuesday, October 12, 2010

      Artfire Collections: Oct. 10-12

        Spotted Skunk
      • "Hi little skunk!", curated by geishalovessamurai: "I always wanted to have a pet skunk...the unscented version, of course. Here are some to enjoy!" Spotted Skunk.
      •  "Birds of a Feather...Flock to ArtFire!", curated by StephanieRonnyeknit1bead2 "Pretty birds!" Whooping Crane.
      • "She\'s A Hoot!!! ", curated by bluesharkdivadesigns
        Barn Owl
        who says, "This Collection is dedicated to my new Friend Payton today... Because she's a real HOOT!! And she also happens to make the coolest Glass Lampwork Owl Beads and Pendants like the one featured here!" Barn Owl.
      • "Come a Lizarding With Me", curated by GottDesigns who says, "Lizards have always fascinated me. They come in so many different colors and shapes. I love to watch the geckos on my patio at night."Collared Lizard.
        Collared Lizard
      • "Showing the Reptiles Some Love", curated by TinaDeanDesigns.
        "The beauty of reptiles is overlooked by a vast number of people. Let's show them some love." Pond Turtle.
        Pond Turtle

      Sunday, October 10, 2010

      Painting a Peacock



      I just finished this Peacock carving. The next time I do one of these I should make a sequence showing how it is painted, but I get so into the job, that the thought never enters my mind. There are lots of steps to get all the colors in!
      • I paint the dark green around all the eyes, using a bit of plastic cut to the shape to block the airbrush spray from them. Also use various shaped plastic to block spray from the wings.
      • The light blue shape is sprayed through a hole cut in the plastic sheet, and the dark blue is drawn on with a marker.
      • Yellow sprayed around the outside, orange inside that. 
      • A bit of purple spray softens the sharp line.
      • Gel markers suggest the vein and add a bit of sparkle.
      You can find a carved peacock at Artfire (more photos are there also)and one will soon be added to my Etsy shop as well.

      Artfire Collections: October 8-9

      Wood Carvings from the shop of Sandra Healy appearing in Artfire Collections
      Painted Turtle

      Wednesday, October 6, 2010

      SandraHealy in Artfire Collections: Oct. 6 & 7

      Here are some of my carvings which appeared in Artfire Collections.

      Tuesday, October 5, 2010

      Rescuing a Dark-eyed Junco

      This Dark-eyed Junco flew into my sunroom; I really need to screen the door because it's happened twice in the last two days. It was in quite a panic, trying to fly through the window and resolutely avoiding the open door and window. But I got my hand around the little thing and took it outside. I just happened to have my camera in my pocket so was able to snap a photo before it flew away, free at last. 

      Shortly after this another one, I hope it wasn't the same one, flew into my kitchen through the open door. Alas my open door policy has gone awry. That one was easy to capture against the kitchen window, then released.
      I make a carving of a Dark-eyed Junco (also known as an Oregon Junco; it's a nice way to remember these birds which are so common at the bird feeder. 
      This carved Junco is available to purchase here. The one in the other photo is not available!

      Monday, October 4, 2010

      Animal Carvings featured in Artfire Collections Oct 4-5, 2010

        Animal Farm Fun curated by WieberArt

      Serengeti Safari curated by BijoudeRhapsodie

      Curated by CRGDesigns | Collection Published on 10-05-2010

      Curated by CreatedSensibilities | Collection Published on 10-05-2010

      Curated by HoneyFromTheBee | Collection Published on 10-05-2010
      also this Turkey was in To the Turkeys!
      Curated by StephanieRonnyeknit1bead2 | Published on 10-05-2010

      Running and walking

      I set out on a run this morning, along a disused logging road. An old trail, which I used to run, diverted me, but many scattered fallen branches made walking the better alternative. The few bird chirps only emphasized the still silence of the forest. I knew I was almost back to the logging road when I totally lost the trail, but kept moving on through a tangle of brush, and soon was trotting home on the road.
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