Acrylic on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.

Signed certificate of authenticity.

This artwork comes with an external frame

Wow where do I start with a description of Kookaburras except at the beginning for this is one of my earliest artworks painted in Australia and as such is more valuable as it documents the start of my art and learning journey here as well. Firstly we had only just acquired cameras, something we could never afford before became more affordable as we reduced the distance between China and where we live, electronics also became less expensive initially so I could use a computer to zoom in to our photographs but these seem to be slowly increasing in price now- we wanted to photograph the local Kookaburras but for some strange reason they all disappeared and the only place we saw them in the following four months of winter was on the side of roads where they stay in one place long enough for us to set up the cameras and take the photograph, we were still learning how to use or cameras- they stay on the side of roads as its super warm above the tarmac and they get little creatures that have not made it safely across the road to eat as well as a added bonus- thus the photos I referenced for this artwork were not our best- later we got much better shots and I've added one here for you to enjoy. A tip do not do roadside photography if it is not safe to park, we have since discovered much better locations with much more relaxed birds but we were learning about Australia's avian population in the wild too at this stage. I have always considered the birds in Canberra backyard pets but the realisation that they are indeed wildlife has only recently been worked out- possibly after witnessing them slapping their meals on a branch before eating it- lizards are a Kookaburras favourite but they eat snakes too. We are actually extremely lucky to be able to see wildlife so close to home here and indeed in other large cities a days trip out to the outskirts and wilder environments is necessary to observe any. You can compare Thoughtful Kookaburra too to this one as this artwork was done later but from a very isolated roadside image. The background of Kookaburras was created from one of our favourite places in Canberra- "going down to the eagle nest" - (see Wedge-tailed Eagles: learning to fly) in a abstract kind of way but the purple mountains in the distance, golden yellow grassy colours, wide open cloudy sky and bare branches are typical in winter in the ACT. There's Kookaburras here too but they take off just out of photography distance very quickly because they have the sky and you to watch if the Eagle is in hunting mood. Of note is the clouds and the "brush" grass- I had wanted to texture stencil them to get sharper simpler more stylised outlines and this was the first time I used this new technique I had researched online and ordered templates from America for - later I developed a more freehand softer style for clouds as in Pelicans, probably as the templates disintegrated and became more worn out and my confidence increased in having fun and experimenting with painting and creating more from feeling not observation improved but I still like this artwork today as it brightens a room up beautifully especially in winter and it is just a little bit more abstract so where other artists may paint over their canvas as their journey in the arts progress I have left this one as a reminder of where I started because it is just such a good documentation and history lesson of my learning journey here. Just one thing it was the laugh of the Kookaburra that first intrigued us- its sounds just like a Hyena from Africa and when we finally found the source of this to discover a little bird with a big head and a tiny tail it was just a great delight. We had seen one in a zoo in Africa but it had not been laughing there. The Ravens on Rottnest island, Perth are also one of Australia's iconic sounds I will never forget once heard! We have since discovered there's loads more interesting sounds here and maybe our not being able to locate the Barking owl easily is because we just didn't think one would hang around the local dogs barking. Always learning more about these delightful creatures in Australia! I suspect as we learn more and become better at our photography skills my painting techniques and art practise will continue to develop but this is special as it documents our early learning and discovery here of not only the birds but photography and art and IT techniques too. Something else to make you smile- my husband kept saying he's spotted a Kingfisher and after several moment of looking I would always ask do you mean a Kookaburra, for they are in the same subfamily Halcyoninae, so you do need to learn the technical terms too when out bird photographing together as well. I added quite a lot of blue in this painting too but that is the way I paint still today reflecting the colour of the sky but when we later discovered the Blue-winged Kookaburra they were much larger and bluer than the Laughing Kookaburra.