My painting Forest Whispers has been chosen for the 49th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists. Only members of SAA are entitled to submit work for consideration. I am thrilled that from this prestigious group, my painting of North Island Kaka from New Zealand was selected.
Forest Whispers ............24" X 22"The North Island Kaka in New Zealand is a brush-tipped tongue parrot. A bird of relatively ancient origin, it appears to have separated from other parrots at an early evolutionary stage and has adapted to a temperate climate. Its closest relatives are the lorikeets from Australia.
The Kaka inhabits old forests but will visit orchards and even suburban gardens when it is not breeding season. Their nests are usually up high in old or dead trees and they can lay up to 5 eggs. I had a chance to see Kaka in the wild on the North Island. While their coloring may seem dull at first glance, when they lift their wings, a fiery red/orange array of feathers dazzles the eye.
The Kaka inhabits old forests but will visit orchards and even suburban gardens when it is not breeding season. Their nests are usually up high in old or dead trees and they can lay up to 5 eggs. I had a chance to see Kaka in the wild on the North Island. While their coloring may seem dull at first glance, when they lift their wings, a fiery red/orange array of feathers dazzles the eye.
However, it was their interaction with each other which inspired this painting. This grouping of three Kaka lent itself to a range of artistic choices. I arranged the birds to create a serpentine line leading into the painting. It was an unusual choice to place the foreground bird with its back to the viewer, but then, these are unusual birds.
- The show takes place at wonderful Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure in Salina, KS.
- Sept 5th - Nov 1st, 2009.
3 comments:
that is a very impressive piece! best of luck!
Thanks Jonathan!
Linda
Hey Linda . . . I second that emotion . . . great piece!
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