Birdsong

This work was created in 2023 in response to the birdsong of my home. This mindful practice of action painting is an outdoor sensory experience that helps to ground me and enter a state of flow. The focal point of the work is a 50 metre tall Eucalyptus Citradora or lemon scented gum. It grows outside my studio and provides refuge and food for hundreds, if not thousands, of birds each year. It’s important to do all we can to help them thrive as urban sprawl continues to impact and reduce their natural habitat.

The ecological network of birds, kangaroos, frogs, insects, lizards and small mammals, as well as our family, are in constant interaction. We have planted native food sources, a flower filled garden and a wildlife corridor around our property of three plus acres that provides shelter and breeding grounds. The birds in turn help to keep our property in ecological balance and gift us with their beautiful song and activity each day.

The paintings were made over a week at different times of day and evening to capture the changing sounds of the birds throughout the day and this is reflected in the palette and marks. The under support of the tree enabled a frottage effect imprinting the texture of the bark on each canvas. The intuitive marks each representing individual bird songs were made initially with brushes and also with a range of hand built tools made from sticks and foliage surrounding the tree. Media included charcoal, oil pastel, oil stick, acrylic paint and graphite powder. The elements also contributed as the canvases were left on the tree for a week exposed to rain, wind and sun.

Marks were made to the call of: magpies, lorikeets, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, corellas, sulphur-crested cockatoos, galahs, willy wagtails, crested pigeons, mynahs, butcher birds, kookaburras and the occasional frog chiming in from the paddock.

A video was produced to capture some of the process and the birds who contributed their songs to this project (see below).