A WINGED START TO THE NEW YEAR

A local B&B, Birds of Paradise have twice commissioned me to do a series of nine watercolour birds for them. My blog posts about it can be viewed here and here. Tourists from the UK who visited Eshowe last year saw some of these bird paintings at Birds of Paradise and asked me to make them their own three bird paintings. These have recently been completed and are representative of some of the species of African Birds that they encountered and became fond of: the Hoopoe, Fish Eagle and Masked Weaver.

African Hoopoe. Watercolour. 260x360mm 

Who can forget the haunting call of the African Fish Eagle? It's the call of Africa. One of my fondest memories is of a sunrise canoe ride on Lake Sekhunto, near Pondweni and Tembe Elephant Park in Northern Natal, where we had a Bush Camp.

We were very wary of Hippos, but were treated to more than one fish eagle swooping down for an early morning catch.

On a more recent fishing boat trip on the lake system near St Lucia, I was able to photograph a fish eagle enjoying its meal on a branch. This will probably be my next painting!

 

African Fish Eagle. Watercolour. 260x360mm

Watching the weavers build their nests, entertained by their happy (and very busy) chirping and zwirring can be a fascinating pastime.  I just had the opportunity again this past weekend. Look at this one,  for instance: (You got to start SOMEWHERE!):

Masked Weaver. Watercolour. 260x360mm

Painting this set of three bird watercolour paintings was very satisfying and inspiring. Look out for some more bird and wildlife watercolours in the near future!

Set of Three Bird Watercolours completed for Collectors in the UK.