This is my entry for the February 2009 snowdrops show--I like the shows since they get me painting a wider variety of subject matter! I used a bunch of collage elements--the two rectangular "windows" are from a collage I did several years ago, that I cut up and pasted on with acrylic varnish/medium. The rectangle on the right has a little cut-out of a bird from a postage stamp (tried to capture this in the detail photos); I think I rubbed pigment straight in, and the branches are strips of folded heavy paper. I also used beads on the vase that I painted over, and gold leaf that I partially rubbed out. The texture in the bottom area was created using a sawdust-type material that I use in other papercraft projects.