News:

My latest solo exhibition with Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mt Tomah ran for 6 weeks from 10 June to 23 July 2017. Final tally of works hung... 34! My biggest so far.

The theme of "Art from the Birds - Nests and Bowers" allowed me to have a lot of fun with the creativity of the birds themselves as inspiration for my artworks and the little story cards that I love to do with them.

Our wonderful bowerbirds were particularly fun to research and paint. They build love arbours in which they paint, they decorate, they sing and they dance. The more I find out about them, the more I am amazed at their creativity, cleverness and some of the parallels they have with human artists.

So there was quite a big education/come fun sideline to the exhibition with plenty of info on birds as artists and crafty creators.

As usual I am grateful to the Garden for allowing me to develop my art through these continued solo showings for the last 5 years.

Along with the exhibition we held an art workshop on the theme at the Garden on Sunday the 16th July 2017.  We had a great class of enthusiastic bird lovers on the day and we had a lot of fun.

In these themed workshops all levels of students are catered for, from beginners to advanced. Casual, fun and flexible. There is a strong emphasis on learning about nature subjects and plenty of scope to allow you to develop your own particular line of creativity in a supportive atmosphere.

After checking test print-outs at various sizes I've decided to go for the full size version of the original artwork: 51 x 72cm rather than reduce to a standard A2.  After so many years of painstaking work it seemed a shame not to be able to see all the tiny details I squeezed onto the original.

I'm still going for top quality 12 colour printing on 180gsm archival matte paper done by a professional printer - Clickmedia, Penrith.

It is available in laminated or unlaminated versions.  

Please note the actual poster will not be watermarked with copyright details and will be full resolution quality.

Prices:     Unlaminated   (best if you wish to frame yourself)                    $30 each   plus P&P $10 within Australia.  
             
                 Laminated    (great for attaching straight to the wall or a door)    $40 each   plus P&P $10 within Australia 

In memory of my brother Iain - June 2016.

Also see my  facebook page for extra information and insight into the process of creation.

Facebook link:

 BIRDS    FROM LIFE    

 Exhibition and art workshop on 'Waratahs, Wildflowers and Wildlife" -  spring 2015
 

This was the first time that I've applied for selection to this important and exclusive botanical art exhibition.

Sales went well for me with one unframed original and 6 limited edition prints sold. Proceeds benefit the work of the Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens.

A very interesting exhibition with some fine work.

Following on from the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden's "Plants With Bite!  Carnivorous Plant Fair", Saturday 6th December 2014, Fiona taught a botanical art workshop on "Carnivorous Plants and Other Curiosities" on Sunday the 1st of February 2015. In December 2014, there was a supporting display of  6 or 7 of Fiona's artworks for sale at the Garden's visitor centre: exploring some of the possibilities of this subject.  As well as native carnivorous plants, such as sundews and bladderworts, Fiona  depicted other strange plants that function as insect traps - such as our bizarre terrestrial native orchids. And of course she snuck in some insects with them! 

                 

A big thank you to RICHARDS FINANCIAL SERVICES  who kindly displayed eight of my Limited Edition giclee artworks in their front reception office duirng June and July 2014. They have a rotating display of local artists' works.

180 Katoomba Street , Katoomba.

The "Birds of a Feather" workshop with Fiona on Sunday 16th February 2014 at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden proved very successful. It was fully booked out with a waiting list and all participants enjoyed the theme.

 "Fungi and Life in the Leaf Litter" Art Workshop

An art workshop on fungi was conducted at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mt Tomah, on 2nd June 2013.

An exploration into the micro world of the leaf litter with its myriad small organisms that complete the carbon cycle for all of us.
Short lived and unpredictable fungi fruiting bodies provide mysterious and intriguing subjects for photography or artwork.



Following on from  Fiona's December/January 2013/14  Wollemi Wild Things art exhibition, the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden offered art workshops with the artist in February and March 2013. It was a chance for the students to explore the intricacies of the natural world through art observation and gain an insight into how this artist works from her field studies. Both classes were fully booked out.

Painting featured in flyer: "Box Mistletoe and Butterflies" one of  Fiona's newest artworks avaliable only through her archival, limited edition, giclee print range at Blue Mountains Botanic Garden or through her studio.

"Green Peafowl  Pair" by Fiona Lumsden  Limited Edition Archival Giclee Conservation Fundraiser A special commission from the World Pheasant Association, Australia, to raise funds for the conservation of the endangered Green Peafowl, Pavo muticus.  The iridescent and elaborately beautiful Green Peafowl presented special challenges for Fiona. Having access to Mark Baker’s fine collection of Green Peafowl for live study was a great help.  In the composition the artist has tried to highlight the special features that distinguish this lesser known species from the widely kept Indian or Blue Peafowl. She has focused on the striking facial patterns, long spiky crests and elegantly long, green-bronze, scaled necks of the male and female birds. The elaborate train of the male peacock is represented by tail covert feathers of 3 different types at the base of the composition.  The subtleties of the original painting have been faithfully reproduced by a high quality, Giclee print process with archival materials in a limited edition of only 20 copies.  Limited edition prints of the Green Peafowl, framed or unframed, are currently available by contacting:               Mark  Baker          Email:  mark@potterscottage.com.au         or  Fiona Lumsden     Email:  lumfio@yahoo.com or phone 0247 826577 The Green Peafowl is an endangered species.  Why are they endangered? Widespread hunting for meat and feathers, and collection of eggs and chicks, combined with habitat modification and human disturbance, has caused a catastrophic decline throughout much of the species range. (www.iucnredlist.org )   The World Pheasant Association plays a leading roll in the conservation of pheasants, peacocks and related species and their habitat. (www.pheasant.org.uk, www.wpaoz.com).   The WPA helps develop conservation skills through training and education of people especially in countries where pheasants and related species are found including India, Nepal, Burma, Vietnam, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo.  WPA supports and takes part in conservation projects both in the wild and in captivity. Designing conservation schemes that take account of, and where possible improve, the livelihoods and welfare of local communities, encouraging the sustainable use of natural resources.

New solo exhibition for Fiona Lumsden finishes successfully 

at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden.

15 years after her last solo exhibition, Fiona had a new showing of her works. It was at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mt Tomah via Bilpin, Bell's Line of Road.
Entitled "Wollemi Wild Things"- an exhibition of works from nature captured by wildlife artist Fiona Lumsden on her Blue Mountains field trips."

Fiona grew up at Mt Wilson amidst the Wollemi National Park and has studied the flora and fauna of that region for decades. She is also familiar with the Capertee Valley and Dunn's Swamp on the western borders of the park from many camping and field trips to these beautiful places. In this exhibition she drew on her fieldwork and existing compositions from the area as well as executing new subject compilations.

Because the offer of an exhibition to be done within a year gave, in fact, little time to call "nature to order" to deliver up subject material and put it to paper, Fiona decided to call on her limited edition, archival, Giclee print stock to give her the breadth and variety she needed for a targeted exhibition of the secretive natural creatures of this area. The exhibition showcased 26 framed pictures in A3 and A4 formats. They were in different sub-themes with flora and fauna from: the basalt-capped peaks of the northern Blue Mountains, the Capertee Valley, the Greater Blue Mountains generally and special interest themes of cicadas, mistletoe and orchids. It was also a rare chance to view the original artwork for her posters of "Birds of the Blue Mountains" and "Birds of the Capertee Valley".

The exhibition turned out to be very successful - standing room only at the opening, great publicity, good attendances overall and lively interest in the subject matter. The artist hopes that the theme of the exhibition did its little bit to raise the profile of the complex, but sometimes elusive, flora and fauna of the beautiful Wollemi wilderness area.

Fiona would also like to pass on her thanks to the very helpful staff of the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden - who  made all this possible and also made it a very pleasurable and encouraging experience for her.

                                                                                                                                       

Birds of New Guinea field trip - West Papua, September 2012

Fiona has finally realised a 30 year dream to go birdwatching in New Guinea.

New Guinea's avifauna, to her, has always been a beguiling mix of the familiar and the exotic. Of  its more than 800 species, many have close links to Australia, but with its rich tropical forests and mountainous terrain these relatives have blossomed into a bewildering array of strange species. Most famous for its Birds of Paradise (39 species overall, of which Australia only has 4), there are also 3 species of Cassowary in New Guinea, plus ribbon-tailed Paradise Kingfishers, many colourful parrots, giant Crowned Pigeons and a myriad of secretive forest birds.

A 3 week trip to West Papua, with skilled guides from Papua Bird Club, gave her a tantalising glimpse of some of what the island of New Guinea has to offer. 8 species of the incredible Birds of Paradise at their display grounds; plus so many other amazing birds, colourful tropical insects and  flowers, varied scenery and friendly, helpful locals: all made it the most amazing trip for the artist and her intrepid birding companions.

One day she hopes to get together enough material for an exhibition of paintings from this exotic and beautiful but rapidly changing part of the world: right on our doorstep but too often overlooked.

Fiona and her friends have done a number of slide shows for bird clubs - sharing some of the wildlife wonders and also the practicalities of visiting this wild, and largely unknown to westerners, part of Australasia.

To learn more about the Birds of Paradise family, one of the bird wonders of the world, please look up the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website item:   www.birdsofparadiseproject.org

 

Magnificent Bird of Paradise, Arfak Mountains	Showing field drawings of birds to children near Wamena	Crested Berrypecker, Lake Habbema