Australian Bird Art Posters: Regional Bird PostersNEW:
BIRDS OF SYDNEY - COAST AND BUSHLAND - 170 species 51 x 72cm
After 7 years in the making, Fiona's 'BIRDS OF SYDNEY - COAST AND BUSHLAND' Art Poster
is finally finished and available for sale. Released December 2016.
170 species in habitat, featuring iconic Sydney flora and a wealth of bird species
from this very rich and rewarding area for birdwatchers and nature lovers.
2 years
in the draft and research stage, brush was first applied to the heavy
watercolour paper in October 2011. All hand-painted
and hand-numbered on one sheet of 600 gsm cotton paper, each pose
was initially from the artist's imagination to enable an aesthetic flow
to a very elaborate composition. Each bird species was then carefully
researched (with 6 books open at once) to try to ensure an accurate but
artistic interpretation of the many bird species that Sydney is still
lucky to have. 40 years of birdwatching experience in the field was of
course a help, but brushing up on seabirds meant pelagic seabirding
trips to the edge of the continental shelf (and several lost lunches!).
Choice
of species to depict was tricky. Birds are, of course, rather mobile
creatures and populations change with time. Unfortunately there are species
now so regionally rare that they had to be left off. The artist
hopes this trend doesn't continue. On the other hand, new species have
moved in. However Fiona hasn't put on man-introduced species. She
wanted it to be a natural amalgamation of species and habitats and she hopes to
encourage people to get out and enjoy (and fight to preserve) the
beautiful remaining patches of bush around the city.
Habitats
shown include: Sydney Angophora (Sydney Red Gum) bushland, Sydney Blue
Gum forest, Cabbage-tree Palm and Lilly-pilly rainforest, heathland,
mangrove, freshwater lake, shore, sea cliffs and harbour. Many iconic
Sydney plants (large and small) are shown. Also sneaking in are some
mammals, reptiles, frogs, insects and marine life. Even fungi.
Enjoy and explore!BIRDS
OF THE
BLUE MOUNTAINS - 109 species 42 x 60 cm
below
Detail
Detail
BIRDS OF THE CAPERTEE VALLEY - 121 species 84 x 30cm
below
How to purchase the posters:
Please contact Fiona to purchase posters directly or for further
details and enquiries. She is
contactable
by
email, post, mobile or home phone (with message machine). Please be patient if a delay in reply. She
is often away on field trips (usually just a few days) to study her
subjects and is often uncontactable while away.
Posters are also available from a number of
retail outlets
in the Blue Mountains and Sydney areas.
Price: BIRDS OF SYDNEY - COAST AND BUSHLAND - 51 x 72 cm
Unlaminated: $30 AUD + $10 p&p within Australia
Laminated: $40 AUD + $10 p&p within Australia
Framed: $195 AUD (Only available directly from the artist's studio)
Price: BIRDS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS A2 Sized - 42 x 60 cm
Unlaminated: $25 AUD + $10 p&p within Australia
Laminated: $35 AUD + $10 p&p within Australia
Framed:
$180 AUD
( Available directly from the artist's studio and now also at The Nook
Craft Co-op, 133a The Mall,
Leura.)
Price: BIRDS OF THE CAPERTEE VALLEY - A2 wide landscape format 84 x 30 cm
Unlaminated: $25 AUD + $10 p&p within Australia
Laminated: $35 AUD + $10 p&p within Australia
Framed: $180 AUD
(Only available directly from the artist's studio)
Postage & Packaging (Australia): Posters
will be posted in a protective poster tube with plastic inner
sleeve.
NB: $10 postage covers 1 - 3 of any of my poster range (within Australia)
Please allow
5 working
days for delivery after confirmation email from artist.
Details of the posters:
Available as:
Laminated, unlaminated or framed. (Posters framed by Pro-frame Design,
Penrith)
Unlaminated is best
for budget or if you intend to frame or block mount later.
Laminated is easiest for quick display
straight to a wall or door.
Limited numbers of Birds of Sydney, Birds of the Blue Mountains and Birds of the Capertee Valley are available pre-framed directly
from the artist. Collection of fragile glass frames is best done
in person by direct pick-up from the artist's studio.
Framed "Birds of the Blue Mountains" posters are now
also available at the Nook Craft Co-operative, 133a The Mall, Leura.
Size: Birds of Sydney - 51 x 72 cm
Size: Birds of the Blue Mountain - 42 x 60 cm = A2
Size: Birds of the Capertee Valley - 84 x 30 cm = "Long A2"
Printed by: Clickmedia Digital Printers P/L: Unit 3, 57 Regentville Rd
Penrith. Ph: 0247 22 9170
Canon 12 colour pigment ink printer. Archival 180gsm paper.
Hanging and care of posters:
Please note that unlaminated posters are rather delicate as
they are on a special layered/coated print paper for good reproduction. If they should ruckle when creased accidentally, I find it
will come out when mounted for framing.
It’s not good to store laminated posters tightly rolled for
long periods. It can make it harder to flatten them afterwards. Relax curled posters by loosely
reverse rolling and weighting, or by pinning or mounting.
Please don’t leave unprotected posters in contact with
normal cardboards such as postal tubes for long periods. Acids in the lignum of normal cardboard can
leach out into the posters. When posting I protect my laminated posters in re-used local newspaper bags sleeve to reduce plastic waste. Unlaminated posters have the finest reproduction details but unstretched paper will fluctuate with humidity. Glazed frames (with/without mats) offer the best protection
and clarity. Other options include: dry mounting on foamcore or PVC
blockmounting on wood
top and bottom slide-on
plastic poster rails
pinning to top and bottom flat
softwoodstrips. Please consult a professional framer, printer or camera shop for more advice and prices.
How
the posters were done:
An ambitious project for the artist. 3 regional posters completed so
far: portraying over 100 species each on a single page. The
tiny portraits are rendered in intricate detail. Each pose is the
artist's own creation: drawing on years of experience sketching and
studying birds and their habits in the field: allowing a more natural
flow to the elaborate composition. However the plumage details of each
species are also carefully cross-referenced from many sources to try to
ensure an accurate but aesthetic representation. An effort has been
made to depict each species, where practicable, in the ecological niche
they are most associated with. An imaginative composite of local
habitats and flora has been amalgamated by the artist to facilitate
this.
The
originals involve a very painstaking procedure. They are laboriously
hand-done on watercolour paper but before commencement there is a lot of research and many
pre-drawings of each bird and also the entire composition. Painted at
the same size as the final printing, each tiny pose was painted and
re-painted multiple times with the finest sable-hair brushes on heavy 600gsm
watercolour paper. Each poster has
taken many hundreds of hours work, over months or years, often long
hours
into the night in the studio.
After digital scanning of the final artwork, the posters have been
printed locally (Clickmedia, Penrith) on high quality, specially
coated printing paper to allow the fine details and accurate colours of
the small portraits to be still enjoyed in reproduction.
(Canon 12 colour pigment ink printer on archival 180gsm matt paper).
About the Birds of the
Blue
Mountains poster See illustration
above.
A 2 1/2 year project to complete. Showcasing 109 species from the
beautiful and rugged Blue Mountains, west of Sydney NSW. A World
Heritage listed area. The Blue
Mountains
is a large plateau
area dissected by spectacular sandstone cliffs and deep gorges carpeted
by
vast and diverse eucalypt forests with small pockets of warm-temperate
rainforest
and heathland. A ribbon of small mountain towns follows the ridgelines
of the Great Western Highway and Bell's Line of Road across the Blue
Mountains and are surrounded by rugged National Parks to the north and
south, scenic reserves, lookouts and many fine bushwalks. A terrific
area for
birdwatching and for connecting with nature.
The Blue Mountains birds poster depicts most of the common
and some rarer but special bushland bird species of the area (except
most of the urban, introduced and waterbird species which are generally
uncommon in this area). The background features small
representations of the habitats of the area: sandstone clifflines, wet
and dry sclerophyll bushland, heathland, rainforest, mountain streams
and birds of the air above. Plant species depicted include
Eucalyptus oreades and piperita, Mountain Devil, Saw Banksia, Waratah,
Coachwood, Grass tree and Blueberry Ash. Secreted within the
composition are various mammals, reptiles and insects, although taking
a
backseat to the birds.
About
the
Birds of the Capertee Valley poster See
illustration
above.
The first poster project for the artist. An almost accidental project:
the design just "grew" sideways from the cluster of finches on the far
left: add a fence, a strip of mountains and a mix of rural and woodland
habitats and hey presto, 6 months later, a framework to showcase 121
species of the Capertee Valley.
The
Capertee Valley is a special birdwatching area becoming
known
nationally and internationally as a haven for rare and declining
Australian woodland birds. It is located on the western edge of the
Blue Mountains (off the Mudgee Road) encompassing the hamlets of Glen
Davis and Glen Alice. A gloriously scenic valley surrounded on all
sides by spectacular cliffs and the Wollemi and Gardens of Stone
National Parks. A diversity of habitats has resulted in a proliferation
of bird species finding refuge in this large valley. Being a
cusp
zone where the forests of the Blue Mountains give way to the woodlands
of the western slopes, vegetation varies from semi-rainforest to
Ironbark/Box/Cypress Pine woodlands and farmlands. Not as heavily
cleared as many other rural areas, many woodland bird species, whose
populations have fallen alarmingly elsewhere, remain relatively common
and easily seen here.
A prime conservation focus of recent years has been the highly
endangered and beautiful Regent
Honeyeater.
A collaboration between
landholders, conservation bodies and many volunteers has led to
extensive habitat restoration with the replanting of thousands of
native trees. Bi-annual tree-planting weekends are held in the Capertee
each spring and autumn. New volunteer tree-planters are always welcome,
no experience necessary.
Contact for
further
information on volunteer tree-plantings in the Caperteee Valley:
Birdlife Discovery Centre
Newington Armory, 1 Jamieson Street
Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127
Tel: 02 9647 1033 Fax: 02 9647 2030Email: southernnsw@birdlife.org.au Website: www.birdlife.org.au
Please report
all sightings of the nomadic, critically endangered Regent
Honeyeater to Birdlife Australia. (Note if the bird has coloured leg rings
including
order & which leg.)
All images
are the
property of the artist and are protected by copyright.
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