I painted this Gouldian finch for a BirdLife Australia exhibition called 'Joy'.
While my initial reflex when reading about the exhibition subject was to reference one or more of our incredible, and incredibly clownish parrots, I decided to reflect on a quieter joy.
Well, I say a quieter joy, but there’s nothing quiet about this little finch. This bird is a painting in real life, so I can’t say it was easy to portray it in paint. Birds like these make me grateful for colour, both when it’s bold and bright, and when it’s muted and subtle.
As an artist I’m obsessed with pigment, and with the creation of paint, both modern and ancient, but it isn’t often that I am given the chance to pull out my lavenders, lemon yellows, and almost acidic greens. More than once, I was shocked by the colours I was mixing, which seemed so overly bright, but were true to this tiny little charismatic creature.
This painting is ready to hang. It doesn't have a wire, but it does have a D-ring attached.