WBCF at Kowanyama

A remote Aboriginal community at the Gulf of Carpentaria is Kowanyama, Queensland, Australia, which is the home of the White-bellied Crimson Finch. The bird is confined to a small area there, along with other finches such as the Star Finch (endangered), the Black-throated Finch, the Chestnut-breasted Mannikin and the Red-browed Finch. Crimson finches are more common with a black belly but the finches in my painting have morphed with a white belly. They are like their southern cousins, the Black-throated Finch, whose endangered relatives have a white instead of black rump. The presence of Finches in the landscape indicates that the country is relatively healthy. Finches Queensland is an organisation set up to survey and monitor finches and their habitat. The organisation is run by volunteers and proceeds of any finch painting sales support Finches Queensland – www.finchesqueensland.org More paintings can be viewed on my website: www.pamschultzgallery.com

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Pam Schultz is an award-winning representational fine artist. Her paintings are in the collection of national and international patrons. “My appreciation of art began at home in Melbourne, where I was fascinated by my grandmother’s oil paintings hanging on the walls. I started drawing earnestly around eight years old. I excelled at art in school and by grade 12, I was enrolled in a Diploma of Art at Caufield Institute of Technology (now Monash University). My first artistic job was a textile artist at a clothing factory in Melbourne. I designed textile patterns and took the illustrations overseas to England where I was based for three years. I travelled around Europe, West Asia and America visiting art galleries, stately homes and cathedrals. In London, I worked for an animation studio where I created illustrations for commercials. Back in Australia, I became enthralled by the tropical landscapes in North Queensland and became involved in lobbying for their protection through my art. Influenced by anthropology studies at university, I began to paint portraits in 2003. Then I began to choose people who were conservation ecologists as this theme suited my passion as one who aimed for the same goal. I worked in the field of natural resource management following the achievement of a PhD in Environmental Science. Amongst other recent commendations, I won first prize in 2019 for “The Ethnobotonist” in the competition Artists of the North in Cairns. In 2020, I received a high commendation for “Grasswren Country Laid Down” at the Cairns Regional Gallery.”