Forest and Bird

tātāeko / whitehead

Here is an interesting article talking about the variety of bird life that existed in Auckland prior to it becoming an urban sprawl. Yay for programmes like the Ark in the Park for coming up with ways to try and bring back some diversity of bird life back into the Auckland region Forest and Bird article

Manukura

'Manukura' means of chiefly status

He is just gorgeous! Follow the link to the full article Herald article on Manukura

Manu Waiwai

Kotare in progress

This idea has been in my head for quite sometime and I have finally had the chance to sit down and experiment with it. Watercolour manu! I like the idea of prodcing a range of images which are more affordable and easily produced once the initial painting has been perfected.

I think he will look gorgeous when he is finished

After experimenting with my printer I have managed to get it to accept 300 gms paper and the final results are fabulous. The inks are of top quality and are said to have very good archival propertities.

Piwakawaka Waiwai 2011

Here is one that is completed, in it's printed form. Waiwai refers to the watery media that was used to create the image. The subtleties of the watercolour process are still visible, which to me was very important. They are all signed and in an edition of 50.

detail

At this stage I am considering printing half of the edition on canvas, but at this stage I will just stick with the paper. Piwakawaka Waiwai is available for purchase on Felt

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

St Heliers Bay Market on Sunday

Hey there, come and join us at St Heliers Bay Easter Eggstravaganza Market. It is this Sunday 17th, 10 - 3 pm Tamaki Ex-Services Association Hall, Cnr Turua St & Polygon Rd, St Heliers. I have never had a stall at a market before but it should be great fun. It is all very last minute, a last minute invitation but hey you gotta give it a go eh? Look for the ellaQuaint store :) St Heliers Bay Easter Eggstravaganza Market

ooo, chilly

Treehugger is one of my favourite ecoblogs. Here is a wild article which I thought I would share with you. Of all the birds who need their feathers . . .treehugger article

Don Merton Dies

Don Merton holding Richard Henry, a Fiordland kakapo

It is so sad, the beloved koro of both the toutouwai (black robin) and kakapo has died at the age of 72 after a battle with cancer. He was the person responsible for bringing back both species of manu (birds) back from the brink of extinction, without his intervention we would have lost both feathered treasures.

Link to the Article from the New Zealand Herald