The Eurasian Jay

One morning, not long ago, I looked out of the window and saw a beautiful Eurasian Jay hopping around our front garden. This particular bird is a frequent visitor to our garden and one that I always enjoy seeing. Even though I was still in my dressing gown, I grabbed my camera and, after just a handful of shots, managed to get a lovely one. The jay is sitting on our garden fence, framed beautifully by one of our flowering bushes which is currently offering some bright orange berries, below.

I posted the photo on my Facebook profile and it was popular! I decided that if my friends liked it so much, I was going to recreate the photo in paper. The piece I have made measures 20x25cm and, like much of my work, is created from layers of cut paper. The original is for sale and it is also available as print in my Etsy shop. Please send me an email or leave a comment if you are interested in purchasing the piece.

Now, a little bit about the Eurasian Jay. It is a relatively small corvid (a bird of the crow family), with a length of 34–35 cm and a wingspan of 52–58 cm. It has a stout black bill, a white throat with a thick black moustache. and the forehead and crown are white with black stripes. It has a black-and-white wing pattern with a prominent bright blue patch with fine black bars on the shoulder. The tail is mainly black.

The Eurasian Jay is an inhabitant of woodland, forest, parkland and gardens with larger trees, especially oaks. It feeds in both trees and on the ground, eating a wide range of invertebrates, acorns, seeds, berries and even young birds and eggs, bats and small rodents! It is typically rather shy and difficult to see well, but sometimes feeds out on open ground, as the one in our garden did. Pairs mate for life and work together to construct their messy-looking nests. Nests are built in trees and shrubs using twigs, with roots and hair for lining, where the female will lay four to five eggs.

The Eurasian jay is a common resident of Israeli towns and villages that have parks and green spaces, particularly in the north and central Israel.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Inspire Me Tuesday and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Fox Art

Orders have been a little bit slower than usual whilst we have been on lockdown so I have used my spare time to create something for my own enjoyment. When I visited the wonderful Pop-Up Museum TLV 2 in Tel Aviv back in January I spotted a fox on the wall of the apartment building that was set for destruction. I realised there and then that it would make a great papercut and, with time on my hands, decided to make my own version of it. My fox would certainly outlast the doomed graffiti!

Inspired by the graffiti I saw, I created this fox papercut. It was drawn and cut by hand and placed on a patterned background. I subsequently scanned my original artwork and have made it into a high quality giclée print which is now available in my Etsy shop.
My print would be a great addition to your office or lounge, your child's bedroom or simply as a gift. It is printed on 145 g/m2 high gloss inkjet paper. The colours, textures and detail are identical to the original artwork. Various sizes are available. Please stop by my shop and take a peek.

* This post has been shared on Inspire Me Monday, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Inspire Me Monday, Make It Pretty Monday, Tuesdays with a Twist and Inspire Me Tuesday.