Acrylic on paper

Signed on the front.

One of the smallest of the fairywrens the Red-Backed Fairywren is around 11 cm long and a whopping 8 g.
They are found mainly in northern Australia and tend to hang in groups comprising a breeding pair and helper birds that assist with raising the young. The helpers are progeny that have reached sexual maturity yet remain with the group for one or more years after fledging.

My current work seeks to accurately portray ornithological subjects using vintage book pages as both the inspiration and substrate onto which the birds are depicted. While the birds are depicted in a realistic manner the work retains a painterly quality with a combination of fine detail and evident brushwork.
The use of vintage book pages as the substrate brings an underlying story to the piece through the history of the books themselves which is often evident in the imperfect nature of the paper with blemishes, marks and creases.
My technique involves painting in thin layers building up the form with layered feather details. At times some of the text may show through the paint in an almost shadowy way that binds the bird to the page but also contributes to the underlying feather details.
While the birds in some works can have an easily identifiable, even a direct link to the page content (as an example depicting a bird using the identification page from a field guide) others can have more discrete and even an intangible relationship to the page contents.
The works are created in acrylic.
A literal relationship between the bird depicted and the page utilizing the page with the description of the bird from the iconic and classic field guide of Australian birds by Cayley.
Using a page from a field guide pays homage to the history of field guides and their use by birders whether professional or hobbyist. The use of field guides as a substrate for the piece also references the work of artists in the past who made field guides a work of art in themselves.