Feathering My Nest

Last Christmas season I had two delightful guests for tea--Emily Sutton and her friend and fellow artist, Mark Hearld. I first read about Emily's work in World of Interiors. (Oh, the power of magazines.) Having promised myself that the shelves and tabletops in my homes were laden to capacity, I vowed not to add anything else...well, at least for the moment. It was a good resolution, but it didn't last long when I saw Emily's incredible birds of Britain. I was able to purchase the very last one that the gallery had available.

Emily is Anglo-American. Her mom is from New Jersey. She has not been out of art school for very long, but her work literally flies out of the galleries where she has shown. Her latest show, which ended in June, was at Godfrey & Watt in York, near where Emily lives. Inspired by the decoys she saw when on a visit to The American Folk Art Museum in New York, she set to work to create her masterpieces, which are three dimensional and incorporate both painting and stitchery. It was the latter that just blew me away.

After my first purchase, I added an English robin on a branch. It was my luck that Alex at Godfrey & Watt had chosen my robin for the only Christmas card that the gallery produced. I ordered bundles and got to work sending out my robin with good cheer in my heart. As you can see, an English robin is distinctive and not a carbon copy of the ones we see bobbing around in our backyards.

Both Emily and Mark are interested in collections--and so I was thrilled to think that they would visit me when my Christmas tree was up and trimmed to the brim with the ornaments I've collected over the years. Many memories from my Victoria days. All the while I was decorating, which was about a two-day affair, I kept thinking how happy I was to share some favorite things with my visitors from England. But, at about five in the morning on the day of their arrival, the tree decided it had enough of standing in my living room and began to lean forward. I heard a little noise and suspected that resident cat had found an object of her affection. When I investigated, I found a Christmas tree within minutes of hitting the deck. My husband and I worked as fast as we could to save the ornaments. I didn't lose anything very precious.

However, my family prohibited me from trying to redo the tree and trust it's wayward ways. So when Emily and Mark arrived, the promised display had become an array of lights and Emily's two birds perched quite nicely on several strong branches.

It looked quite nice, actually. We had a lovely time. Enjoy Emily's birds online. I can assure you that her work is incomparable.

My love of bird art has also taken me to Screech Owl Design. They make jolly cards. (Did I catch a bit of the Brit from Emily and Mark?) One of my favorites is of a robin perched on a spout. There is another very friendly one of a heron on an elegant chair. When you order from Screech Owl, George sends a personal thank you. Imagine that?