The Latest Creation - Splendid Fairy Wren
Over the past few weeks I have been working on this painting of a Splendid Fairy Wren. I saw one of these little fellows a very long time ago whilst helping my sister just outside of Mildura, doing a count for rabbits. Like a dart of vivid blue lightning, this little bird flew past me, rested on a branch and before I could say anything to my sister, it flew off!
We were on the hunt you see, for anything that we could find, but especially the Splendid Fairy Wren. At that point, my sister had never seen one despite all her time out in the "wild". Although now she is rather familiar with them having sighted numerous over the years. It was and has been the only time I have seen one, however, it made a lasting impression on me.
Recently I joined the Australian Native Bird group on Facebook. There is a post every now and then from a photographer by the name of Muneer Al Shanti who does beautifully, rich and moody photos of birds. Close up and personal, and absolutely stunning. His photography has been of great inspiration for me. I love detail. Something to do with training as a jeweller, but even as an artist, I have always focused in on the detail of subject, rather than the subject as a whole.
The process of painting for me is one of the ways I get to relax. Not everything I paint and draw makes it out into the great wide world but I thoroughly enjoy playing with colour and creating dimension from flat surfaces. I have painted in watercolour, acrylic and oils previously and have always wanted to try painting on board. I wanted to see how the watercolour would work on the wooden surface, what texture it would give me and in fact, if it would seep into the board or pool on top. To my delight, it seeps in and allows you to build a beautiful, moody surface. Repeating layer upon layer until you get your desired result.
The only problem now is that I want to buy 100's of boards!
Something my bank account and fiance will not allow! Lol!
In any case, you can expect to see a lot more painting coming up as I explore how to use these paintings, not only as inspiration, but different products for the website. But if you love wrens as much as I do, you can view my limited edition Silver Wren Here!
So here it is, my Splendid Fairy Wren in watercolour and acrylic on board.
What do you think?