Hand-Painted Birdhouses
One of the types of projects that I’ve been working on the last couple of months is hand-painted birdhouses. I really like being able to bring what would normally be a 2D painting and transform it into a 3D piece of art.
The most popular one I painted was the one below that was inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s paintings Starry Night and Road with Cypress and Star. On the birdhouse, the front was painted similar to Starry Night. The back was painted as Road with Cypress and Star. And then on the sides I imagined what the scenes would look like if they were blended together into a continuous landscape.
The birdhouse above may be the first that most know about, but it wasn’t the first that I’ve painted. A couple years ago I was asked to complete a special present for a family member’s friend. She is a big fan of cardinals, but we wanted to do something that was more unique and special than a tradition painting. A painted birdhouse with cardinals is what we came up with (and she loved it!).
Since painting the Van Gogh birdhouse a couple months ago, I have also painted several others. This pair features sky elements – fluffy clouds in a blue sky and a beautiful sunset. I liked the bee and flower cutouts that were part of the woodwork so I made sure that the paintings highlighted those features. (At the time of this blog, these two are available at the Shoppes at Oldies But Goodies in Big Flats, New York.)
I asked for theme ideas and a friend suggested that I paint orchids. I had painted an orchid series in the past based on my muse – Blanca. (You can read more about this series here.) These two birdhouses are based on my beautiful orchid plants. I couldn’t decide which color backgrounds to do, so I did both teal and purple options.
In addition to the large birdhouses, I’ve also painted mini birdhouses. Aren’t these adorable?
I’m constantly brainstorming ideas for new ones to add to the collection. You can keep an eye out on my social media pages for new ones to pop up!
If you’d like to take a peek at the ones that are currently for sale you can check out my etsy page here. You can also contact me about painting a special one just for you!
