St Vincents Amazon Parrots and Cannonball Tree ~ Watercolour ~ 75x90cm/30x41inch ~ Original artwork SOLD
‘St Vincents Amazon Parrots and Cannonball Tree‘ botanical name (Couroupita guianensis) is an intricate and spectacular major work created in transparent watercolour. Measuring 75x90cm/30x41inch in size, and has been one of my most intensive and significant undertakings to date. My fascination stemmed from my love of the tree, first seen in the Far North Queensland city of Cairns, Australia. I was captivated immediately by this curious, sensational tree, amass with flowers tumbling down its sturdy trunk to the ground like an above water coral reef, its cannonball shaped and sized seed capsuled clustering precariously amongst the boughs… how could i not be enthralled by this plant? I quickly began gathering reference, investigating its mauve tendrils and fleshy petals, dissecting the flower structures into sections, wanting to know all about it! Soon after I began to research its origins and host animals and ideas for the painting developed in its due process.
Time eventually allowed me to begin this painting, settling on the remarkable St Vincents Amazon Parrots as the ideal compliment for this subject. I had heard of these birds some time ago, and was equally captivated by them as well so the combination seemed irresistible to me. With so few St Vincents Parrots remaining in the world today, the significance of this piece, to capture such a unique and magical snapshot of our precious world took hold of me firmly. I chose to create a large scale painting in this case in order to convey the true impact this subject deserves and to capture an audience with a gasp large enough to see our amazing world with new appreciation.
Exploring this piece has been an intense journey exploring immensely complex colour, mysterious depths and atmosphere, luxurious and diverse textures and extremely challenging techniques, culminating to this spectacular end result. A labour of love, this is a painting I have created for no audience, for no objective, i painted it because i knew that i must, because i was excited by the challenge, and simply because I needed to know if I could!
Thank you so much ACTP for the wonderful work that you do to preserve birds like the St Vincents Amazon Parrots. Thank you so much for your assistance with reference from your birds to make this rare painting and record come to fruition. Keep up the amazing work!
This painting is now available in print, just follow the link to learn more on this product