ella thomas

This is a record of my art making, the experiences that I have in everyday life that inspire me and a document of the paintings that I produce. Sometimes I will mention different facts or stories that bear some relevance to manu / birds and New Zealand native flora. One of the key ideas within my work is the celebration of the uniqueness of the native species within Aotearoa / New Zealand.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

kereru


Kereru Waiata 2011


I haven't painted a kereru for such a long time. To me they are kind of scary because the images I choose to work from generally show off their feathers in their best light. The better the light, the more the colours that appear in them.

This kereru turned out so well. Because initially I wanted to include it in the waiata series, I had that in mind. Then I realized that I have never, that I know of actually heard the call or song of one. There wasn't anything; recordings or descriptions to be found online either. In the end I decided that his waiata would be a quiet, subtle one and painted it white.

See the other blog ellaQuaint for another beautiful kereru work that I came across online, recently ellaQuaint


Again you can see more details of this taonga on Toggle, where he is available for purchase toggle
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About Me

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Auckland, New Zealand
Ella Thomas is a contemporary artist who lives in Auckland, Aotearoa. She is of Ngapuhi descent and has a passion for the beauty of the whenua (land), the sea and for the unique flora and fauna of New Zealand. The concepts that are explored within Ella's work are based upon notions of conservation, ecological balance and extinction. Her paintings often feature nostalgic patterns reminiscent of the mid to late 1800's, the era when European colonization occurred. It was during this time that many unique species of birds became extinct. The rarer a bird became, the more prized a specimen of it became. Alive or dead. Much of Ella's paintings are celebrations of the unique character of our surviving taonga (treasures). Ella has a Bachelor of Visual Arts and has been working within arts related industries for many years. She has paintings in collections nationwide, Australia, England and the USA. Finally the plunge has been taken and Ella has committed herself to fulfilling a dream, that of becoming a full-time artist.