Graphite, premier water-soluble pencil, acrylic paint and archival ink on cradled birch wood panel.
820 x 820 mm
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In their quest for sweet nectar our native bird life gets up to all kinds of mischief.
Our unique land of oil filled flammable eucalypts and incredibly dry infertile soils makes the Australian land so distinct and partial to the freakish consequence of climate change and dry heat. The evolution of the unique character of this ancient land has also shaped the nature of our extraordinary bird life.
What interests me most about birds, is our Australian bird life. Our isolated evolution has developed the most interesting and individual characteristics in flora and fauna.
As Tim Low points out, it is the makeup of the bird fauna, that declares it as so distinctive.
It can be seen through the birds life and their relationship to our equally distinctive flora and dependency on this flora for life. The way that our flora and fauna have developed alongside, to be hearty and strong and resilient, in such harsh conditions, makes our ecological system so unique.
Our birds are loud! This is because in order to survive here, plants have developed a system of producing an excess of nectar to provide nutrients, enough that our birds fight over this sweet nectar. ‘Parrots are globally outstanding pollinators... Australia and its sister island New Guinea is, ‘the most distinct and different in the world’. (Tim Low, Where Song Began).
My paintings intend to draw attention to our incredibly unique wildlife, especially the intelligent songbird. We are the origin of all the worlds songbirds.
© 2023 meghan byrne
