Framed dimensions: 680mm. X 515mm. or
26 3/4 in. X 20 1/4 in.
Canvas dimensions: 552mm. X 390mm.
or 21 3/4 in. X 15 3/8 in.
I love this little
painting of a pair of fledgling moreporks. From what I've seen, most
people can't look at it without feeling compelled to turn their head
to the side to better experience the direct eye contact of the younger
one on the left.
Moreporks are New
Zealand's only native owl. They are gorgeous little creatures and one
of my favourite subjects when it comes to native bird studies. This
pair of fledglings was actually photographed in the bird rescue centre
on Auckland's North Shore. As you can see, the painting is slightly
off-centre with part of the right-hand side of the older fledgling
cropped off. This is exactly as the original photograph was composed
in the lens. After careful consideration, I decided to leave the
composition unchanged as it shows how captivated the photographer was
by the direct eye-contact of the younger bird, which is one of the key
elements of the painting's appeal.
A few years ago I
did a painting of a single morepork as a commissioned work, and for
that I borrowed a specimen from the Auckland Museum to really have
something to study and better know the subject. Often I hear a
morepork at night where we live in the country. Sometimes I'll even
call to one with a reasonable imitation of the sound they make and
we'll have a conversation going for a while.
Unlike earlier
reproductions of my work, this edition is printed on canvas making it
even more like the original. The quality of the resolution is so high
you can't see any hint of dots or pixels making up the image, and the
colour so correct it is almost entirely indistinguishable from the
original. And, because the original painting has no oil paint
"texture" due to the way I paint this finely detailed work, the giclée
print on the canvas even feels like the original.
A case in point:
the owner of the original oil was over from New York and, as I had the
painting with me at the time to make the giclées from, I was in a
position to show him one of the prints and tell him it was the
original just to see his response. He totally believed he was looking
at his painting and was amazed to find out otherwise.
Life sized detail showing section of
feathers through fledgling on left
Each "canvas" of the
edition is laminated onto a sturdy backing board with archival glue just
like the original. As part of the process to turn the painting into a
giclée the signature was digitally removed and replaced with the correct
background colour so that each print in the edition can be individually
signed.
Giclée prints, I can
say without reservation, are absolutely brilliant as faithful and
realistic recreations of the original work. The printer we use produces
work of the highest standard and among his samples are paintings by a
number of top Auckland artists.
Each giclée
print is individually printed and sealed with a coating of a special UV
filtering protective lacquer, giving it an archival rating of 100 years
+. It is then laminated to its backing board with professional
conservation glue, hand numbered and signed. For a fuller description
of giclée printing technology
click here .
There are to be only
100 numbered and individually signed copies of the
giclée prints for this entire edition.
The framing we
supply is as per the photo above. It is a timber frame finished in a
lovely dappled bronze with a gold inner edge.
Price
including framing: $1300.00 including GST and delivery within New
Zealand.
As our framing is
traditionally a service we provide at cost the price for
unframed prints is $1200.00. We can supply
unframed giclées ready mounted using archival glue sealed onto a sturdy
backing board, the same as for a framed one, or gently rolled in a
strong sealed PVC tube.
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