Royal Spoonbill
'Spoon Me'. 2025 New Zealand royal spoonbill - SOLD
Oil on solid timber block, 85mm w x 400mm h x 40 mm deep.
The gangly spoonbill is my all time favourite subject - they've got personality, and those ridiculous beaks do a mighty job of stirring up critters for them to eat for lunch.
For this one I chose a long skinny piece of recycled timber to reflect the bird's long skinny legs and famously long beak.
The timber block was upcycled. It was 'dressed' by my husband (to remove the rough bits) then prepared with several layers of primer and then a few layers of gesso before the oil paint got 'spooned on' with a knife.
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.