Birds in the Bush

Happy New Year! Well it is February but I'm not so late if you go by the Chinese New Year.

Well I have decided to have a bit of a studio clear-out and make a determined effort to find new homes for some of my painted manu. That means a Sale! Not just any sale but a 'Birds in the Bush' sale.

Check out ellaQuaint on facebook for further details as to the manu that will be available for you to take home :)

Festive Manu

Here is a sneak preview of some of the gorgeous, new manu that I have painted for the Auckland Art and Craft Fair that is happening this Saturday.

Toutouwai in progress

Tauhou in progress

Christmas Tui

Kotare in blue

Christmas Riroriro

If hitting the malls to do your Christmas shopping seems a bit hideous, come along and see all of the fabulous wares . . .  Auckland Art and Craft Fair blog.

On his Perch

my favourite tui yet!

So I was very well behaved and I did complete him in a sensible fashion. I so love the simplicity of oriental aesthetics and the whole philosophy around what is 'not there' being as important as what is, leaving out the perch was definitely pushing that sentiment a bit too far.

Ehoa Tui 2011

It is so nice getting used to my little camera again. I had lent it to my mum so she could take it overseas with her and I borrowed her camera instead. Although her camera is so much flasher, I love my little lumix.

detail of the layered up reds and greens of the pohutukawa

detail of the tui

Enjoy . . . there will be additional images within his listing should you wish to be nosy Ehoa Tui on Toggle

Tui Mahira

This is the latest bird to add to the whanau, Tui Mahira; meaning nosey tui. I loved the photo that I based this guy off and I am stoked with how I captured his inquisitiveness within the painting. Here I also experimented with working in a wider variety of blue hues within his wing feathers. The original image had been pushed through photoshop I think. Enjoy. Link to Tui Mahira

Christchurch Charity Auction ' Arohanui'

Fingers crossed :) 
'Arohanui' by Ella Thomas.trademe.co.nz

Arohanui Christchurch

 

Well it has been a hectic couple of weeks. The awful events in Christchurch have frequently been in my thoughts, especially as my Dad's family come from Canterbury. The Friday after the quake I actually was down there for a family event and it was a different city from when I last visited, just before Christmas.



Arohanui 2011


We were staying in a motel just outside of the central city, on the edge of Hagley Park. Thankfully they still had water and power. It was how I imagined a war zone to be, helicopters frequently cut across overhead; ambulances wailing at least one an hour. The people we came across were in a stunned state, some tramautised. Members of my family who have been deeply affected but are thankfully intact. Like many their house and land is probably to be condemned, but I suppose events like this are part of life's journey. I wanted to do a little something in response to this tragedy. It took me much longer than I thought as I had yet to paint a manu this large.  Here it is . . .

Arohanui 2011
560mm x 710mm x 36mm
Archival Acrylics and gesso on canvas






cover image and article
by Jason Hoskings


You couldn't hear any birdlife around the city, apart from the ducks in the park. Like they say, 'water off a duck's back'. This saying has always appealed and I think there may be some influence evident within the painting. Tui I think of being particularly resilient also, they have thrived where other species have floundered. The photo that inspired the pose I used was from New Zealand Geographic  abridged tui article

This photo is just stunning, I did adapt the pose to suit my needs as I wanted to render the face of the tui. Within the painting are other references to painters, old and new as well as influences by one of my favourite illustrators. I suppose I like the idea of the tui being like an endemic phoenix. Shortly I will be able to provide a link to the auction, of which I am going to donate the proceeds to the Red Cross. I you like it, link-love would be great . . . even better, bid on it :)






detailed layering



fluttering feathers



 

 



here you can see some of the sheen of the
gold underpainting coming through

  

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

tui waiata tira





Tui Waiata Tira 2011

  Here is the latest addition to my Waiata series. She was enjoyable to paint and many rich colours layered up within her feathers. The image that I used for inspiration when painting her was high contrasting tonally, this gave her a pronounced controur on the brow.  Because of this I nick-named her Frida.

Waiata tira is a choral song; a song sung as a choir without actions. I imagined her listening to the dawn chorus, waking up and contemplating joining in. On my other blog; ellaQuaint, you can see the process as to how I layered up her feathers.

She is available for purchase from toggle; enjoy

http://www.toggle.co.nz/ella-thomas.html 

tui mouku

Diptych 2 canvases 305mm x 225mm x 35mm
Archival quality acrylics and gesso on canvas


This was a commission that I really enjoyed working upon, it features a tui perched among flowers of ngutu-kaka (kaka beak). I am really happy with how I have managed to further explore playing with simplified kowhaiwhai forms in the tui's collar feathers. The background has layered up silhouetted of mouku (hen and chicken fern).

tui teo

Triptych 3 pieces 205 mm x 205 mm x 35mm
Archival quality acrylics and gesso on canvas





With this painting I was drawn into experimenting with layering silhouettes of kowhai leaves and hand painted realistic images. I was also wanting to see the effect of not including kowhai blooms, . An interesting development seems to be occurring with how I am rendering the birds, particularly tui. Their eyes are getting bigger and bigger.

ngutu-kaka tui

2008
Triptych 3 canvases
305mm x 405mm x 35mm
Archival quality acrylics and gesso on canvas



Within this triptych I got a little carried away with the details within the tui plumage and the abundance of ngutu-kaka (kaka beak) flowers and foliage. In my opinion the effect is lovely even if the painting took quite some time to complete.

In the wild the ngutu-kaka is rare, browsing pests like possums and feral goats have contributed greatly to this. Thankfully it is a popular tree in gardens so it is safe from extinction.

tui kahukura

2008
diptych
2 canvases 305mm x 225mm x 35mm
Archival quality acrylics and gesso on canvas


This little diptych is the second work that I have completed this year, it was a commission piece. As well as a tui perched on flowering pohutukawa, to the left a kahukura, native red admiral flutters. Kahukura also has some other lovely meanings; to be multicoloured, a rainbow as well as a cloak coloured with red ochre. The composition works wonderfully within the double landscape format.

tui tahi

2007
Triptych 3 canvases
615mm x 405mm
Archival quality acrylics and gesso on canvas

Here I experimented with using a single tui within a central format. The canvases are of a longer format than I have used previously but work wonderfully with the vertical nature of harakeke.