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Beautiful Rock Pigeon. It looks real. Well done.

What a lovely envelope. What a joy to find it in your old fashion mailbox.

Love the pigeon! I always enjoy seeing them in cities, all the color variations and the way they walk and fuss with each other. They act so human sometimes... ;D
Very charming!

XXOO~~♥
Anne

Much as I like the envelope, I was intrigued by your medium choices - acrylics and colored pencils. I've never mixed them together. I know you can guess what just went on my To-Do List.

Happy Christmas card writing,
Annie

You know that I LOVE this painting....and while I don't have the original (lucky Caroline)I do have a card....it is even lovlier in person!

Sending love to you, "SH", "Princess" and Bri..

♥ Robin ♥

What a beautiful illo! who knew that a pigeon could look so amazingly stunning! Great job! :D

Great work! Beautifully done.

now, if i say YES, oh sure i remember that, then that makes me like, reeeally old, right? which might be kind of cool as then i'd get to meet amelia ehrhart or marlene dietrich (she wanted to be left alone! even by pigeons!) hee, hee!

this is reallllly pretty, lollie! i love his colors and that it's on an envelope! "))

Just came across your blog. I love the concept of your illustration as well as the illustration itself. Well done!

-Barb

Lovely work as always.

I really like this one! Great design and use of colour, a beautiful carrier pigeon!

Your mail goes by air and mine goes by pony express! lol. I love this one.

So beautiful! Lucky Caroline!

Well I know that happened but no I do not remember being there when it happened! LOL Same with pony express! Glad Caroline is enjoying that particular piece of mail. I love your art on brown paper!

Well, it's a great drawing, but I think it was passenger pigeons that delivered the mail. People killed off all the carrier pigeons, methinks.... Well, nope, I looked it up, and you had it right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Pigeon

Wow Lolo! What a beautidul painting and what a lucky girl that Caroline is! Never seen a lovelier pigeon!

Beautiful and lucky Caroline! But who better to have this treasure? :D

great take on the prompt

Oh ....yay!! There's my Lolo pigeon!! I can cerainly vouch for how wonderful it is in real life - the colours of the feathers are truly beautiful!! I was so lucky to win this and enjoy it everyday in my studio! Lovely that it gets another airing this week! xx

I love pigeons (and their cousins, doves), and that one is beautiful. My baby sister is terrified by them.

lovely. hope your hand is ok after writing all those cards.

Heisann!

Wonderful bird/envelope illustration.
I hope to make one for the topic within this week......
I wish you a joyful Christmas, many hugs from Bjørg Nina in winterwonderland

That's a lovely painting! I am sitting here watching doves and cardinals battle it out at our birdfeeder, so seeing this post is appropriate! :)) Happy holidays! xox Pam

love the thought of pigeons delivering mail - wouldn't that be cool? Sorta like Owls delivering packages, and mail.

Holiday cards??? what's that!!

Lovely! Lucky Caroline! Happy Holidays!

Another lovely illustration, the colours are gorgeous!

Another lovely illustration, the colours are gorgeous!

lo, so sorry i'm late again! i love this, the beautiful blue colors and OH! on an envelope! i know this will be such a treasure to recieve.
I LOVE drawing on envelopes too, although its been some time since i did it. you are my inspiration dear. have a lovely day okay?

p.s. the prettiest present in a red bow arrived and is waiting under my tree
:) :) :) xxx

Mailart of the highest caliber, Laurel! :)

Simply beautiful! And your blog monochromatic banner is lovely- it makes winter seem so much more magical.

i had to look to see if i had commented already. how bad is that?!

lo, i've seen you mix these magical deep feathered colors and i am enthralled. keep doing what you do ms. missy.

happy happy holidays to us, lo.

♥
kj

beautiful piece Laurel
regards, Neil

Beautiful beautiful pigeon. I haven't started this topic yet, but this is inspiring me. I totally believe in real mail--physical letters on cards that people make themselves, written with real handwriting. I have files and files of letters/art my friends sent me back when I was in my early 20's, and I"m trying to keep that tradition alive by sending folks real letters. If I get out one a month, I feel like I'm doing good, even though back in "the day" I probably sent out several a week.

Heisann, julsann!

This is my Christmas greeting to you:

http://viltogvakkert.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-mail.html

Gosh I love pine needle on the forest floor and this wonderfully serene little drawing!...You are ONE clever girl!

Lovely.

delicate strength....that's what i see in your five minute drawing...

xoxo

Simple, sweet, perfect.

What a wonderful tree!
You are so talented to do this in so little time!

I long for some crispy weather here....

hugs
>M<

I've seen pine only in pictures...this one has charm to it. 5 mins art seems to be gorgeous!

I love the lines...

I like this illio. It brought to mind the crunch of frozen snow.

you are so clever and talented. very sweet tree and I htink we are to get snow today (Sat.)

nice illo, love the feel of it and your description of the crunchy!

Oh yes, I love crunching dried leaves and pine needles. I have never drawn anything in five minutes, I wish I could!

Lo-they actually SELL Charlie Brown Trees at Walgreens-but I like yours much better.

this is spectacular, love the simplicity of it and i can even hear the crunching sound (in the silence). wowser!

Lovely, subtle drawing!

very, very nice!

Tis the season for all kinds of crunch! This is spare, hard and lovely!

Lovely!

Lovely drawing.

I sure do love what you do with brown paper. It's hard to believe, with a word like crunchy, something so delicate and poetic could come about. Leave it to you, girl!

This is a lovely piece ... understated and elegant. I'm smitten with it!

This is just perfect for the prompt! I love the simplicity!

Congrats to you, Laurel, for this lovely creation and to Ellen for winning the contest. I wonder if she'll have us all over for tea to oversee the hanging?

Oh, Lauren, I am gobsmacked! I have been such an admirer of yours for years and to think that I will have such a beautiful piece fills me with such joy! I never win these types of drawings but if I had to wait all this time to win one it was well worth it! THANK YOU! And
thanks for all the way you enrich so many people's lives through your art. 4 Cawing Birds will go right near my front door to meet and greet! Most sincerely, ellen

of course I meant to write Laurel, not Lauren or Laverne. Jeesh! What a kick in the rear to use the wrong name!

congrats ellen, you are certainly in luck here.

lucky ellen!!

Congratulations Ellen! It is a very striking pic of ravens you lucky girl!

Way to goEllen.

Oh, so lucky Ellen! I know for a fact that it will be a thrill to receive!

Oh, Lucky girl~
Oliver and I made up a song on the fly that involved the 12 days of Christmas and birds only (except for 5 golden eggs). I wish I had written it down, because we thought it was cute, but I got confused and tired after about number 7....LOL.

Lucky Ellen! Congrats!
You will love it!

but for the ravens
there would be no leaves
on this winter tree

This is beautiful and a lovely interpretation of the theme...even though I have very negative feeling toward pigeons. I already followed my homing instinct back to my home state, and even though I haven't seen all the pieces of my life come together, at least I know I'm in the right location.

Gillian: nice to see a new face :)
I was wondering if someone would point out how much they dislike pigeons!
I have a soft spot for them because they're so discriminated against. When people put bird feeders out and shoo away certain varieties of birds, I liken it to racial profiling. Call me crazy, but that's how I feel.
I don't like having pigeons poop all over my car any more than the next person but I think they're beautiful in their own way. And yes, I even like having them stop by to visit ;)

That is a beautiful painting and a good representation of the theme. It is amazing the homing instinct in birds and animals. I live only 25 miles from where I grew up but I really feel something inside as I head up the road to the little town I grew up in and have feelings that are like none other. I haven't been there in a while and I have been thinking of it lately.

beautiful illo! well done!

What a wonderful illustration! I love the color, textures and post!

This is beautifully done!! And a great interpretation of instinct. That homing instinct fascinates me too. I love seeing the birds return from a long winter.

WOW! I love this! It is very well done and I need to come back and say some more about it. (I just wrote a series of poems about pigeons AND I have a thwarted homing instinct AND I just read Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome.)

Put it in a glassine envelope on put a sticker on the envelope (address label sticker)

Gorgeous bird! I love that "homing instinct" thing - mine is just to be in my own cozy home, whenever possible. Can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be.

The Fall that follows Triptych There's the pigeon poem--it started out as an ode to Pigeons, but morphed into soemthing really different--it's not really about pigeons. Maybe I should add something that is--I have some of those, too, but this is my newest one.

I've been transplanted to Detroit, but I have a powerful homing instinct toward upstate NY where I used to live.

I loved this post - and of course your illustration! I definitely feel a sense of home in certain places and not in others. In fact, your photos of the water below filled me with longing - home for me is near the ocean, and right now I am landlocked. I actually love pigeons. I love their iridescent feathers and the funny noises they make (even though when I lived in NYC, we called them the air force of the rats)> We have mourning doves here, which are related to pigeons. They nest all around our property and serenade us with their calls. Thank you for the nice thoughts your picture & post gave me!

(I have a pigeon for an icon picture on one of my other blogs.)

I have pigeons at my feeder and I do NOT shoo them away.

Years ago, I did a WHOLE series of poems on pigeons and would read them at open mics and invariably, someone would complain and one woman get really angry. She went on about how dirty they are and called them flying rats etc. But she didn't change my mind.

He's so beautiful. So soft and blue. We have many pigeons here in Missoula. They sun on the roofs, and then for no reason, they'll all take off and fly in an arc, just to land back on the roof again.

Maybe it's their way of exercising...we walk, they stretch their wings...

I love this Laurel!! (and sorry I missed your Raven one) The details in this are just amazing - great post too, I've always been fascinated with migration habits. They have a special event close by here for the Monarchs every year....

P.S. in answer to your question on my digi-art photography - Photoshop (I'm hoping to add Elements soon too)

I like their iridescence. Two of my favourite birds are the Little Spotted Dove and our native pigeon, the big Kereru.

i finally made it to your blog after several hours of a blogger temper tantrum! you've aced the metallic colors of this pigeon. you've got me thinking about home and homing, which is a non-art reason why i like your blog and you so much: you make me think!

:)

Great pigeons on the envelope - your lovely illustration & the cool postage stamp as well.

Oh no words for this one!!!!
So beautiful and yes amazing homing instict they have and such perseverance. Every year a pigeon will strand here completely exhausted, they try to drink from our pond. Mostly they hannnnng around 2 days and off they go again.
Which makes me worried, because I know some ugly stories about (mail) pigeons comming too late......
I feel connected with the pigeon, I get dropped all over the world and I always fly back :)
Home is important to me, I love to be home and here in Holland I don´tlike it when being away too much from home......
When on holiday we always return earlier than planned because we are homesick........

I love pigeons! We have 2 (Turkish)who come for food in our garden every day.
I painted pigeons in Soul´s mandala, green South African pigeons.
In the cities the pigeons have a bad name and I feel sorry for them, they can´t help it.....
Here where I live I see only healthy beautiful pigeons and they are not a plague.
All creatures have rights and deserve love and respect.
I love the reflection of their feathers and their eyes are just amazing......
You captured both so well!
have a nice Sunday!

what a healthy and vibrant looking bird. the homing instinct is very strong in all of us, i have had to quench mine as i can no longer return to live in south africa. i enjoy your philosophy and i liked marianne's comment too. have a good sunday dear heart, hugs and wfs.

Hi! I love the colours in this. Funny about homing instincts; I find I feel like I have past experiences of places I can't have lived in and I'm fascinated by what triggers these feelings. Man and the brain are wonderful!

No allegiances for me, wherever I lay my hat is my home. Set me on a path that leads over the next hill and I'll be happily on my way.

Did you ever read the book The Warm Place by Nancy Farmer. I think that's what it's called. There are some animals in it that talk about that....how they can tell which way is home, even from around the world. This is a really intriguing question, and it all takes place on the subconscious, I think. There are certain landscapes that, for me, feel like home, even if they are places I've never been. I could analyze it, I suppose, but it has to do with the trees, and the rocks, and even the quality of the air and light.

Sweet pigeon, and given her proper pose of dignity and beauty, by your hand Laurel.

If human instincts were as strong as the pigeon's, I suppose we would all be perfectly where we should be, guess that would make life too easy.

The address I think should be written on her beek, in teency weency letters.
Don't thank me, I'm glad I could help.

I think the irradesence of their feathers is so pretty.. not to mention their incredible survival instinct... Amazing creatures!

Home for me is where ever I hang my hat... as long as I have those I love...thats home!

I love this! When my husband and I first moved into the house we live in now, 7 years ago, I was visited every few weeks by a homing pigeon. He would come to my living room patio door and peck at it until he got my attention, then he'd fly up to our 2nd floor deck until I came out there. I learned to bring him some water and seed, he'd stay for a day and then be gone. Eventually we got to a point where he'd get on my hand, so I was able to read the numbers on his tag - I tried to figure out how to find his owners, where he was coming from etc but never did. He was so beautiful! He visited for a couple of summers, then stopped and I haven't seen him since, but I so enjoyed that welcome to this home, and your piece brings back those warm memories!
Thank you for your recent visit to my blog. I'm glad you found me too - because now I've found you :)
Karin

Love it, and I think I should win this one.

By the way Karin thinks we should have our cottage in South Carolina. I'm up for that. What say you?

xoxoxo

Oh Yes! They're amazing postbird in ancient China!
Beautiful painting, I like how you paint his feathers!

The pigeon is beautiful!
Yesterday we traveled from morning to night and I was so ready to come home, even though the day was fun, full of beauty to behold, and good food, and company and sights etc. Today I am happy to be at home, indoors (it's raining outside) and sew to my hearts content...only getting up every once in a while to come here to rest my hands, eyes, back from the sewing machine.
sure I'd love a chance to win the pretty pigeon paper.

Another beautifully illustrated envelope! Your pigeon is lovely - gentle looking and this one is slim and trim - boy can they get fat !! I've had a life of wandering, so my homing instinct is maybe a bit weak! However, I do look forward to finding the right spot when my husband retires in a few years to make our final nest!

Oh my goodness, what a totally sweet concept for an envelope! Brought to you by homing pigeon, and here's a love letter coming home to you. Aaaaah. Beautiful painting. Much too nice to cover with an address.

What beautiful glowing color in his feathers...excellent journaling as always! :)

You are too funny. Damn, to bad I know you wouldn't cheat for the world.

I knew you would love Karin and Lynne. And I know they would love you. I told them Linda Sue and Tessa should come too.

Read Karin's February 17th comments to see how we are doing.

How are the animals? Are you working with any really ill ones rights now. How was that older ladies (is it a cat).

Take care sweets.

xoxoxo

Love Renee

Wow! This is a real good post. Pigeon is a beautiful and clever bird, we have a lots of them in Malaysia too:)
I really love pigeons because they are the universal peace representative be it in US, China, Japan...just all over the world.
Yeah, the mail will arrive! Just so beautiful and zen to me:)

Thank you for stopping at my blog.
I like your illustrations and texts with a touch of good humour and a great artistic sense.

Beautifully done bird. The colors and background are wonderful.

What a great choice for instinct... I feel like it couldn't get better...
These creatures are so loyal and they definitely have no abandonment issues.

Also wonderful illustration!
Love how the colors work with the paper, that pale blue especially...

...and where did you find that stamp!
So together all of it - very grounding in a strange way... Lucky Brine Blank!

I really enjoyed this Lolo. Such a poignant post. Did you really have your mail delivered by a pigeon? :0

Well, I have a little of both, really. But, I tend to stay put. I love to explore new places. I'll have to ponder this a bit, so thank you :)

Love the bird theme we got going.

Have a terrific week, my friend!

well, i can't help inteferring: i think marianne should get the pigeon. maybe you could forget the drawing in this case and declare the drawing on its way to her.

this is really a request from the universe: it just seems like it's coming from me...

:)

I'm glad I stopped by to read this. It reminded me that I am where I'm supposed to be-even if I don't really know why.

I missed this last week - beautiful Pigeon!
Bill

I love those birds, but they seem a bit strange for me.... Always in groups, looking at you with their round little eye.... What are they thinking..... Invading planet Earth? NOOOOO, that they have already done... mmmm..... };-}
You've made a beautiful drawing Lolo! The colours are purrrrfect! :)

Great capture of the colors on this! It is such a perfectly strange choice!!! When do we see the hawk?!?! And again let me tell you how fortunate I feel to be getting your art!!!

Great illo and great question/advice. I want so badly to get back home to the west coast ... we've been trying for years and it just gets harder and harder.

I used to date a girl who had pigeon toes and i was happy when she went home.

another amazing envelope… your work stirs the soul… just look at all the sincere, crazy touching comments…

the saying goes home is where teh heart is… and I have never left my home town…

Gorgeous pigeon! I can almost see the feathers iridesce!

I like pigeons myself. I think their feathers are pretty and I love their endearingly, pudgy little bodies and I am enchanted by the cooing sounds they make... and the homing thing, how impressive is that?!

Oh, and their poop, nothing compared to seagull poop!

Another winner Lolo!

Oh, and to answer the question you put out there... I do feel the pull back to Ventura, or some coastal area. I feel so displaced living in the high desert, although it does have it's charms... punishing heat not being one of them!

We just got back from our vacation and I can tell you I was feeling that "homeing" instinct. I was tired and ready to return home. It is good to be here. Your envelope is gorgeous. I saw many pigeons while vactioning. A red-billed pigeon was a life bird for me.

another gem...

your art is really astounding!

seems crows are homing creatures... they rarely migrate...
but sometimes they just run away!
;)