Thursday, July 11, 2024

Bargain Birds

Thursday. A grey day where the sun may appear after lunch but probably not. The Good Old British Weather has its own plans when no two days are ever alike. Following the ringing session of Monday Sue and I sat out in the sun-filled garden throughout the rest of the day then ate an evening meal basking in the warmth of the slowly vanishing sun. Tuesday and Wednesday - a little mixed with showers and sunny intervals. 

Today I may be forced into a shopping trip, acceptable only because it’s for food and wine. Like most blokes of a certain age, I don’t shop; even more so nowadays when that wonderful British invention the Internet provides all the shopping a man desires. Where else could I stock up with spare Canon eyepieces when the originals mysteriously vanish into thin air ? Or where can I buy socks that fit size 9 rather than 6-11 that fit no one? 

I appreciate that ordered goods via the Internet have to be delivered by crazed White Van Man clogging up the roads and scaring timid drivers but surely this is preferable to a hundred cars with two occupants each setting out for a day at the shops? Home shoppers are doing their bit to save the planet. 

The Internet, especially Ebay, is a reliable source for finding bargains, birdy or otherwise, deals that others may miss whilst lulled into thinking that Amazon is the tops which it ain’t! Before Christmas Sue and I acquired a beautiful & early Lladro figurine, a retired piece that arrived in the original numbered box, all for the princely sum of £45. More recently, a stunning peint-de-main Limoges lidded tabac jar that cost all of £15. “Buy stuff you like” - Ebay in this case. 

Typing “bird art” or similar into a search engine delivers many strange results, very often incorrectly named birds, birds with no names, birds in completely the wrong colours or birds that resemble nothing known to science. I look for the quirky, unusual and collectable.

Ebay was the source of a recent watercolour painting, a one-off original that succinctly depicts birders in action rather than birds, a painting signed simply “Stuart” who I believe to be Stuart Peters but have yet to confirm. 

"Stuart"

Twitchers/Birders
 
This little gem of a painting that cost me £19 including postage accurately portrays a typical “twitch”, a bunch of morose and bored birders in uniform waiting for the bird to “show” on a typically grey morning somewhere on the East Coast of England. Already I have been offered a sum of money that would give a handsome profit but the painting is staying on the wall of the office. It needs more detective work to find Stuart who I suspect was/is a somewhat casual birder, an artist who derived great pleasure from this particular piece of work. 

The latest bargain bird is another original (1976) watercolour of the beautiful and often unloved Fulmar, a gull-like, a grey and white seabird related to albatrosses. Fulmars fly low over the sea on stiff wings, with shallow wingbeats, gliding and turning to show white underparts then grey upperparts. They defend their nests from intruders by spitting out a foul-smelling oil, an experience to which every birder should succumb so as to earn their own wings bars.  

Fulmars (1976) - Fraser Symonds

OK, for £1.99 and the slightly scruffy appearance without glass in place there's a little fettling required for Sharon over at Garstang Fine Arts but very soon I will be left with a lovely investment that fills a gap in the hallway walls. This very accurate and wholly sympathetic painting is by the well-known Sutherland artist and ornithologist Fraser Symonds, almost certainly whilst he sat yards away from the very subjects whilst covered in their spittle.

Sutherland Birdlife
 
“PAINTING BIRDS WITH FRASER SYMONDS. East Sutherland Art Society has some places available for this workshop on Saturday 26th January 2019 in the Masonic Hall Golspie OPEN TO MEMBERS (£20) & NON MEMBERS (£25)” 

Another auction in 2022 and my parting with £195 resulted in the acquisition of the Printer's Proof (P/P) lithograph by Bernard Cheese – Picnic On The Beach, a humorous, quirky work that depicts Sue and I on Knott End beach with our fish & chips, fighting off hungry and persistent gulls. Well it’s not really us two but it could well be. If, Dear Reader you can today find a good framed & original Cheese for less than £1000 then think about splashing out. Or tip me off.

Picnic on The Beach - Bernard Cheese

Works of Bernard Cheese (1925-2013) were acquired for many important collections, from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Collection (one of the largest and most important art collections in the world, and one of the last great European Royal Collections) to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and New York Public Library.

Maybe after today's missive I have inspired readers to invest in Bargain Birds? 

Let’s face it, your money in the bank will quickly depreciate as politicians print more and more notes that will debase our currency, simply to promote and finance their grandiose White Elephant schemes that no one voted for and not one person needs. 

You know it makes sense. Buy collector items, antiques and gold the precious metal, rather then Politician's Pie In The Sky. 

Tomorrow I shall be mostly birding. Join me then. 


5 comments:

  1. I/we tend to do part of our shopping in the high street and the other online.
    The best of both worlds :)

    I'd not heard of Bernard Cheese (thanks for the link to find out more about him), I do like 'picnic on the beach'.

    All the best Jan

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  2. I enjoyed your departure from your usual subject matter. I wouldn't have put you down as an eBay searcher. It just shows how little we know of one another. Good luck with your art searches.

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  3. I am totally on board with on-line shopping. That may well be the most significant and meaningful use of the internet, whether intended or not.

    Driving to and from what we in the U.S. call "big box" stores is hazardous to my health. Actually going inside said stores causes all manner of physical and emotional stress.

    As for your wonderful and glowing reports of collecting bird-related art, all I can say is I will be deleting this post immediately before SWMBO has a chance to see it. I am not necessarily "anti-art", just "anti-collecting", as at this stage of our lives we (okay, "I") are/am attempting to divest much of our life's accumulations in order to downsize as we prepare for migrating to the old folks' home.

    Upon seeing the name Bernard Cheese, I immediately thought of the venerable Wallace and Gromit. Not artistic, but incredibly satisfying.

    Rather than sensible investments, we are in the process of thinking about creative ways to get rid of all that pesky money resting in the bank. After counting all those coins, in turns out we may be able to splurge on fish sandwich dinners from the local fast-food emporium. After that, we shall be destitute and will be left with the faint hope that our children will remember who we are as we arrive at their door with our knapsacks.

    Looking forward to your future ringing reports as they are occasionally bereft of depressing discussions of finances and politics. Occasionally.

    All the best from the poorhouse.

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  4. You seem to do well shopping online. It is not so simple here and certainly not deliveries!! Will be back later to look at what you have bought. For now I am tired and off to bed. Cheers Diane

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  5. As promised I have returned. Interesting how the prices of pictures have gone up. N bought me a fabulous wild dog charcoal picture for my 80th last year from a budding young Zimbabwean artist. I suspect they will go up a lot in price, but I guess I will not be around to appreciate the higher price not that I would ever sell it. I did try to buy one of his sketches about 8 years ago when they were quite cheap but we had trouble trying to pay into a Zimbabwean bank and we gave up too easily.

    Keep well Diane

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