The Making Of: The Village Birdhouse

This piece was created in three main stages, over the course of two years. It began at my parent’s house in Illinois while I was visiting for Christmas in 2019. There, I drew up the blueprints and began to assemble the main structures. I chose to create it out of wood simply because I had access to the tools and space – in India (where I was living at the time) this was impossible. I was unable to carry the in-progress sculpture back home with me, so it had to stay in the US for the time being.

During my next visit home in the summer of 2021, I added some small but important features: tiny wooden steps, flag poles, and a turned wood spire. This year I was able to carefully pack the sculpture up and bring it back to Berlin (where I had moved back to between visits).

The final phase began in September 2021 in Berlin. I added the stamps, decorations, painting details, the weather vane, and many many coats of clear varnish. The piece was completed at the end of July 2022.

15 Γ— 15 Γ— 18 cm | 6 Γ— 6 Γ— 8 in
Materials: Wood, glue, acrylic, stamps, plastic deer & bird, clay, metal wire, glitter, moss, acrylic, enamel, & oil paints, and varnish.