HEAVENLY BIRD IId portrait

by Pia Schneider

Part of my conceptual project HEAVENLY BIRDS. The series was created at a time when I had to say goodbye several times in quick succession, including to beloved pets. Out of this grief grew the desire to capture something comforting: the idea that, after we say goodbye, life continues somewhere else – light, free and at peace. Each variation tells this story through its own colour palette and composition.

Variation IId in portrait format, with its own framing. The colour palette is warm and earthy, in shades of sand, ochre and beige with splashes of sage green and turquoise. It is the most grounded variation in the series, with a sky like an old, weathered wall.
The story: A solitary blue bird perches on a bare branch, its slender twigs hanging low, almost like a weeping willow. The sky is turbulent, heavy and full of clouds. Yet the bird sits upright and still, its gaze directed upwards. In the top right-hand corner, small birds are flying away, and that is where it is looking.
The image captures both at once: the heaviness that lingers after a loss, and the gaze that nevertheless looks upwards. The drooping branches bear the grief, whilst the bird embodies the confidence that life goes on, even if the path ahead is not yet clear. The result is an image of quiet comfort, for moments when one thinks of someone who is missed, and for spaces with warm, natural colours.
The bird is based on a natural history copperplate engraving from around 1860 (in the public domain, from the collection of The Graphics Fairy). I have incorporated it into my own artistic style.
Modern mixed media techniques (collage, no AI).
Collage ©2015–2020 by Pia Schneider, atelier COLOUR-VISION.