As you may notice, I’ll be the first to admit when someone else comes up with an idea. This one belongs to Maureen Hanley (my mom). She brought this one up quite a few times, a pair of Piping Plovers.
They are pretty well the sweetest and cutest little birds- The chicks are like little puff balls on stilts, and the adults are just so cute. I have piping plover pins from two different artists, and Nancy Ching’s “Shorebirds” on my wall- You could say I love them I guess.
Prince Edward Island is lucky to have them here in small numbers, and even luckier to have Island Nature Trust, who works to protect the endangered bird. They have a protection program, and organize Beach Guardians for their protection!
So as it turns out, this is not what my mother had in mind. She wanted more of a cartoon style, where they were held in an embrace and perhaps dancing. I can’t say this is my style in particular… But if any of you want to take claim and make that- Please send it my mother’s way. Someone may as well get her approval. Kidding, kidding. I have a very supportive mother!
I aimed to make them more realistic. Surprisingly, it was hard to find real differences between the male and female plovers (to my untrained eye). A lot of it is in the shades of brown (to my untrained eye) and so I tried to show as much of it in the varying line widths in this piece as I was able.
This started out in pencil and then I filled it with small intricate patterns as I went, staying conscious of the line weights for markings. I used Sakura Microns and Staedtler Fineliners for this piece. I’ve never considered colouring it- I really love the simple black and white patterns.
I really love the end result- And it’s turned into a very versatile design! I have a lot of fun with this one, mostly at Christmas when I do little cards with mistletoe between them. It makes such a sweet little greeting card for Valentine’s Day, wedding showers, anniversaries- You name it, I’ve had someone send some love with it.
I actually went to a wedding shower with this card in hand, and a gift certificate inside for the local liquor store. When the bride to be opened the card, I saw her pull out a different gift certificate I didn’t recognize- And wondered how I managed that. I was dumbfounded and looking at my mother like “What? How did we mix this up?”… Then the bride read out the message, and it was from a completely different guest, who just also gave my same card!
I have this card available in my shop, as well as an 8” x 10” print! On the prints I write the title “Star Crossed Plovers” beneath them each time.