Exhibition Update

Gondwana Morning Rain - Highly Commended award

Some photos from the opening night for the International Nature in Art 2018 exhibition, I was glad to see Gondwana Morning Rain (second from the top) receiving a Highly Commended award.

I will be back at the gallery after Easter, every Saturday for the live demonstrations 10-4 until 28/4

at Logan Art Gallery, Cnr Wembley Road & Jacaranda Avenue Logan Central Q 4114 Gallery Hours 10am -5pm Tuesday to Saturday

Pacific Black Duck, Avian Faces Series and Handmade Watercolour Paints.

Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa, watercolour on paper, 27.5 x 35 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015

Here is the full series of original bird portraits from the Avian Faces Series 2012, three birds, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, the Boobook Owl and the Bush-stone Curlew for a total of twelve small watercolour portraits, all artworks are now available.

And this is my handmade full watercolour range, this is a beautiful, versatile and minimal watercolour palette with five earth colours out of eight.

New Book Release: Watercolour Explorations on Australian Wildlife Vol.1

I am very happy to announce the recent release of my self-published book Watercolour Explorations on Australian Wildlife Vol.1, 90 pages, 7 × 7 in / 18 × 18 cm, available in soft cover, hard cover with dust jacket or hard cover image wrap and as an eBook.

  'After witnessing the beauty of Nature, often rises a compelling need to capture its fleeting essence to make it visible once again, to linger on that beauty, giving it that little bit more permanence allowed by art. My ultimate goal was to draw the attention to that beauty and to share it. Watercolour explorations on Australian Wildlife is a tribute to nature. It is also a collection of watercolours and drawings completed between 2010 and 2013 in and around Brisbane, Australia.'

 Watercolour Explorations on Australian Wildlife Vol.1 would make a perfect gift for anyone interested in Australian wildlife and nature, birds, natural history, watercolour art, birdwatching or travel, for grown ups and children alike. By clicking on the link above you will be able to see a preview of the book. Feel free to share it with your contacts. 

Thank you. 

MG

Avian Faces Series, #3 - the Boobook Owl

I'm glad I was able to gather enough material to work on another Avian Faces Series painting dedicated to an owl, the Boobook Owl, Ninox Novaeseelandiae. I see owls' faces as some of the most expressive in the avian world and the four represented here are only a few among the wide subtle range I could see.

In this post, I would also like to share the interview that Jenica Smith released on her website.

Also, for those who are interested in buying prints, at last, after the originals I sold, I have selected 8 paintings which are now being scanned and will soon become prints. I'm planning to open my Etzy shop within next week, finger crossed!

All the best

M

Suburban Owls

I was invited for lunch at some friends' place in a northern Brisbane suburb and there I was surprised once again to see how wildlife is living just on the door-step of people's homes. Many times flamboyant, colourful, noisy and extravagant, other times quiet, secretive and unassuming. The Southern Boobook Owl, Ninox novaeseelandiae, was roosting sheltered on a lower palm leaf, scarcely about two meters from the ground, just on the side of the entrance driveway, silently sleeping and watching at times the comings and goings of both resident people and cars.

He or she didn't appear to be shy or scared, but allowed people to watch him from a very close distance, slowly closing and opening one eye-lid while keeping the other open and vigilant. Once again I found the owl's facial expressions very interesting and charming, softly moving and changing. Boobook Owls are very widespread all over Australia and their night call, a loud and repeated 'book-book' is perhaps one of the best known nocturnal sounds, you can hear a couple of samples here.

Good luck on you Mr. Hoot!

Work in progress