Ten years ago I was generously gifted a dozen abandoned bird nests by a close friend who owns a lovely home in San Mateo. He meticulously landscaped both his front and backyards with palm trees, tropical flowers, a turtle pond, waterfall, lava rocks, white sand beach and one of a kind carved Tiki sculptures...all to emulate a lush oasis that closely resembles his favorite Hawaiian retreat. He is delighted by the subsequent wildlife his efforts attract and he closely studies the habits of all the birds, bugs and critters that come through his property. He observed that these particular birds leave their nest and do not come back to it, so he gathered them together to present to me for artmaking. I love that my friends think of me this way! I went on to create a whole series titled "Nests" that were featured in my first gallery show (coincidentally the same gallery as where my studio is now located many years later). This piece was the first that I made with the nests and served as a guinea pig to a learning-curve for how to handle and ultimately preserve bird-picked twigs sculpted together with mud. There are many suggested methods found online but my recipe came down to lathering them each in polyurethane then tightly enclosing them in a sealed plastic bag and freezing them for a week, painting several coats of wood glue followed by acrylic gel medium. The title came to me when I observed that I had created a space to be placed upon a pedestal but also kept within a cage. I am not an only child so I'm not sure that those who are would identify this way. Nonetheless the title fits the vibe that the components exude. This work was the start of what would become my recognizable, signature esthetic and has since served as the reference photo for my branding and business logo (swipe left). An Only Child, 2012 assemblage by Dianne Hoffman, SOLD #anonlychild #birdnest #assemblage #assemblageart #diannehoffmanart #dollhead #birdcage #woodspool #placedonapedestal #nestpreservation #assemblageartist #artsupplies #creativereuse https://www.instagram.com/p/CgmeyqALfII/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
