Who Me? Ed. 1 of 50

Who Me? is a Limited Edition High Quality Print on Arches Watercolour Paper from my original oil painting on canvas, 16x20 inches (31 x 41cm). The original is hanging in Beijing, China.

This Australian native honeyeater has a controversial following amongst Australians, most who notice it in their gardens, hate it. It is known as the Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala). It is a communal bird, agressive in nature taking on larger and smaller birds and is a chatterbox. Young males help a breeding pair feed their young which I think is a nice quality. They are territorial so are known to push their way into feeding grounds often pushing out more gentlier natured birds.

In my compositions I seek out beauty and essence in my subjects. So why paint a Miner?

Q. What captured my attention with this bird?

A. It was the contrast of gentle/controversial nature, the light/dark contrast of the striking eye patch being bright yellow and a yellow/orange beak and yellow legs, a nice combination against their cream grey/brownish fleck body. A touch of olive green can be found on their wing. The pose when the bird noticed me only inches away waiting and watching like a predator. An analogy would be as if I was a human miner bird at a restaurant when a giant was staring at me only inches away at my eye level that is about hundred times bigger than me. I was caught me off guard while I was eating a meal, the first for the day. This is how I would I feel if our feet were swapped?

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Ngaire is an Australian self taught artist and is studying classical art theory. She creates beautifully rendered artworks using a variety of mediums preferring oil paints to take advantage of classical glazing techniques.

Ngaire has been in awe of nature her whole life. Her signature style is capturing ‘the essence’ of her subject, the dance her colours create, how they meld into a symphonic and technical playfulness and the poses chosen to emphasize the subjects unique beauty. Her maturing technical ability and compositional components aids her artworks to have a ‘timeless expression of beauty and joy’.

Ngaire’s portraits of nature are much admired nationally and internationally. Although still an emerging artist, Her artworks have already been collected throughout Australia, the UK and in China with commissions in Beijing.

In 2017, her creativity was translated into brass plates mounted in pavers as a permanent public art pavement piece at the Grand Central Shopping Centre in Toowoomba, Australia to honour the Indigenous owners of the land, the Giabal and Jarrowair people.