A Bird in the Hand . . .



Korimako Toitiiti

 I was curious as to whether or not I could create some smaller paintings. Combine that with seeing some very cute but disgruntled birds being held in peoples' hands, the idea of 'A Bird in the Hand' was born. To be honest I figure that most hand held birds are either frightened or hacked off. I have some cute images of said birds on ellaQuaint.blogspot.com

This little taonga is happily perching on a branch. The small scale of the format is approximately hand-sized so there is a nice play with meaning also.





Tui Toitiiti

This wee tui is part of the series, these iti treasures are the start of the 'A Bird in the Hand' series. The other concern behind them was to produce a range that was cheaper than my other works. My only worry was that I would be unable to paint birds, especially larger ones like tui that small.

Well now I feel that that fear was unfounded as I am stoked with how this manu turned out. There is still enough room to layer up fine details within the feathers. I am looking forward to seeing how other species turn out.

These little gems are available on toggle :)
http://www.toggle.co.nz/ella-thomas.html

Another post based on the same idea can be seen here
http://ellaquaint.blogspot.com/2011/02/bird-in-hand-is-kind-of-cranky.html

manuka riroriro 2008

The little riroriro (grey warbler) was awarded 'Bird of the Year' in 2007. It is quite an amazing little bird, despite pipiwharauroa (shining cuckoo) parasitism riroriro are still quite common. Instead of having just one breeding round during spring, riroriro actually have two, one of them being earlier than that of the pipiwharauroa. This has enabled them to survive where other birds wouldn't have. They also adapt quickly to most environments, even in suburbia. I was lucky enough to see one on Tiritiri Matangi, they are so small(about 100mm) and delightful. Initially I mistook it for a rifleman, but later found out that there are none on the island.

Triptych, 3 canvases 205mm x 405mm x 35mm
Archival acrylics and gesso on canvas

I am really happy with how these paintings turned out. The subtle layering worked well, riroriro colouring and feathers are just beautiful. Manuka flowers and the darker branches proved to be the ideal backdrop for the triptych.