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Pastel on Pastelmat (Sold)

51 cm W x 71 cm H
An early morning drive on Kangaroo Island revealed Cape Barron Geese (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) grazing in the grassy clearing. A month later half of the island was burning, and I was concerned for this little flock. Cape Barron Geese were almost hunted to extinction in the 1900’s but numbers eventually restored to 20,000 on Australia’s southern islands. They are monogamous, bonding for life, and aggressively defend their clutches of 4-5 eggs. They are one of the world’s rarest geese. In my artwork I highlight their beautiful plumage, the adult’s defensive position over the vulnerable chicks, and hint at the imminent danger of fire.

Pastel on Pastelmat Board (Sold)

48 cm W x 38 cm H
Adult male Superb Fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) are among the most brightly coloured of the species, especially during the breeding season. These ‘coloured’ males are often accompanied by a band of brown ‘jenny wrens’, assumed to be a harem of females, but often include immature males which have not yet attained their breeding plumage. Seen in most habitat types where suitable dense cover and low shrubs occur, including urban parks and gardens, they can be seen in small social groups. These groups normally consist of one male and several females and young birds. They feed on insects and other small arthropods, which are caught mostly on the ground, but may also be taken from low bushes. This artwork depicts a male in the waning evening light about to launch on unsuspecting prey.

Pastel on Mi Tientes Tex ($POA)

68 cm W x 88 cm H
I was obsessed with the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull during my youth and even named our son Fletcher after one of the characters in Richard Bach’s fable novella. The common Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) is easily the most recognisable of all seagulls, although sadly it is also widely castigated as a voracious and persistent scavenger. The saying “Like a seagull on a hot chip” speaks of this characteristic. Their kleptoparasitic behaviour, and explosion in numbers since the 1950’s is due to the large quantities of food waste that Australians now produce. Their “natural diet” includes worms, fish, insects, and crustaceans. They are a clean and attractive bird and to see them soaring on the coastal breezes, like this one is doing, reminds us of how stunning they really are.

Pastel on Pastelmat board ($POA)

55 cm W x 46 cm H
The green rosella or Tasmanian rosella (Platycercus caledonicus) is a species of parrot native to Tasmania and Bass Strait islands. Found in a wide range of habitats with some form of tree cover, the green rosella is predominantly herbivorous, consuming seeds, berries, nuts and fruit, as well as flowers, but may also eat insect larvae and insects such as psyllids. Their nesting site is usually a hollow over 1 m deep in a tree trunk anywhere up to 30 m above the ground. Chimneys, holes in walls and even the vertical pipes of tennis court fences have been used. Green rosellas nested in a wall cavity at Port Arthur convict prison site in 1958 and 2009, which is where this bird was spotted.

Watercolour on Arches paper ($POA)

49 cm W x 68 cm H
The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is the world’s most widespread raptor found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests. The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over 320 km/h during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest bird in the world, and the fastest member of the animal kingdom. Although its diet consists almost exclusively of medium-sized birds, the peregrine will sometimes hunt small mammals, small reptiles, or even insects. Reaching sexual maturity at one year, it mates for life and nests in a scrape, normally on cliff edges or, in recent times, on tall human-made structures. Since 1991, a pair of Peregrine Falcons has been observed in a nest on the rooftop of 367 Collins Street. As home to the only known peregrine falcon nesting site within Melbourne’s CBD, the building plays a surprisingly important role to the ongoing breeding success of these rare and fiercely territorial birds. The magnificent specimen in my artwork was recovering from injury in a raptor sanctuary before being released back into the wild.

Acrylic on canvas (Sold)

122 cm W x 122 cm H
The striking red background in this “Avian Criminal” piece hints strongly at the blood thirsty nature of the pied butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) due to its habit of sometimes storing food items by impaling them on a stick or on barbed wire or shoving them in a nook or crevice. In ironic contrast the pied butcherbird has been considered the most accomplished songbird in Australia, its song described as a “magic flute”. Song melodies vary across the continent and no single song is sung by the whole population. There is no clear demarcation between simple calls and elaborate songs: duets, and even larger choirs, are common. The species improvises extensively in creating new and complex melodies. One of its calls has been likened to the opening bars of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Singing often takes place at dawn, rarely late in the day, but sometimes on moonlit nights.