Spooning at Low Tide
Spooning at Low Tide. 2025. V Watson original. NEWEST
New Zealand royal spoonbill
Oil on linen, stretched over a frame, and ready to hang.
Sizes: 600mm wide x 300mm tall x 40mm deep.
INSPIRATION
The gangly spoonbill is my all time favourite shore bird - these gangly birds have so much personality, although they're fairly shy.
These three spoonbills are placed at low tide on the humble Waimea Estuary, near Richmond, Nelson. The background loosely depicts Tasman's Rabbit Island from a distance.
I adore painting shore birds, capturing the essence of an ordinary day on the Inlet, with the wildlife, the tides and the light all working in harmony as it does in nature.
For this painting I used a palette knife and impasto technique to achieve a quite textured finish. This is not so obvious from the lower resolution photos. If you're interested to see the detail, just ask.