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

Ehoa Tui

Not the best photo . . .

Well this is the first painting that I have done of a tui for a wee while and I love him to bits! The problem is he doesn't seem to want to perch on anything. He was meant to be like a companion piece to the work that I painted for my mum a few months ago so I kind of feel that he should be grounded by something.

The colours are richer in life.

Maybe an idea for later, painting birds sans environment?? Ehoa Tui translates to being 'Tui Friend'.

Finally!!!

Piwakawaka Koanga 2011

Well I don't know about you, but I am one of those people who loose some of their mojo in winter. Something about the short days, frosty mornings and random snow falls which channels my inner bear and makes me want to just sleep and eat. A little bit of sunshine can make all of the difference and this piwakawaka (fantail) heralds a creative spurt (I hope).

There are many subtle layers of umbers, siennas, blues, creams, ochres that have been layered up to create the texture of his plumage. I probably spent a bit too much time on him and this photo really doesn't do him justice, it is slightly overexposed and has flushed out the colour. I am not going to complain about too much light though! The name 'Piwakawaka Koanga' refers to 'Spring Piwakawaka'. I like the idea that that play with words can also talk about the action of how the wee manu bounces around the place. He should be listed for sale soon.

Tiotio Ruru



Tiotio Ruru 2011

I adore ruru; there is something quite magical about their ability to swoop past on silent feathers. Years ago I was at a family friend's house and after dinner we sat in the dark watching out ruru out the window pounce on moths that were attracted to the porch light. It really was like a silent ballet.

No camping trip or bush stay is quite complete without being lulled to sleep with the 'morepork' call of the ruru. It so reminds me of my childhood.

Tiotio refers to the 'call' of the ruru, again I have used the pattern from a vintage copperplate to symbolise the sound that he makes.

Korimako Waiwai

close up of Korimako Waiwai

I finally got the korimako watercolour finished and able to print him off to join wee piwakawaka. Unfortunately I overworked the kotare painting so I am going to redo it again at sometime as it was looking so cute. Enjoy :)

I haven't used watercolours in this way for a while so it has been fun getting used to them again. Korimako has turned out really well in my view, he has that cheeky twinkle that I associate with bellbirds and aim to capture when painting them.

Should you be interested in checking him out, limited edition prints of him are available for sale on Felt Korimako Waiwai listing on Felt

The Grey Ghost

image from the forest and bird blog

This evening there was an article on the Sunday programme about the South Island Kokako. Bird enthusiasts have labelled it the Grey Ghost due to it's ability to blend into the mist and to avoid being seen. It was declared officially extinct in 2007, much to the sadness of many of us who share a passion for our indigenous species. You can view the article in the Forest and Bird blog here, Bird Stalkers article

However there is still hope, a group of ornathologists who go by the name  SIKIT, (South Island Kokako Investigation Team) are appealing to people who have had encounters with the birds. A recorded South Is kokako call that was documented over a year ago has inspired further attempts to prove that the red wattled kokako is still in existance. You can check out there official site here, The Grey Ghost Let's hope that they can find further evidence soon so that the species can get the support it needs to continue.

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