Sketches of the Birds of Banks Street Reserve and 'Wild Impressions' Exhibition

After two years of visiting Banks Street Reserve, a beautiful urban park at only five kilometres from the Brisbane city, I felt like starting a series of small-size watercolour sketches about the birds I can see there. Starting with an Eastern Spinebill and a White-browed Scrubwren.

I am very excited to be part of this coming exhibition in Brisbane with the Queensland Wildlife Artists Society, I will be demonstrating on the Sunday afternoon. 

For those of you who are on Instagram, you can now follow my artwork and photography there too! I post some material that does not get share anywhere else like some of my best photos taken after my birding outings.

Sperb Fairy-wren

Superb Fairy-wren, handmade watercolour on Fabriano paper, 18 x 37 cm, © Matteo Grilli

This image is available as a greeting card, the original artwork is sold.

Purple Swamphen

Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio, watercolour and gouache on toned board, 29 x 25 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015

The following original watercolours have been recently added to my online gallery:

Eastern Grey Kangaroos at Grampians National Park

Eastern Grey Kangaroos at Grampians National Park.
Watercolour pencils on paper, 40 x 30 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015 

 For this artwork I made the exception of using watercolour pencils, a medium I haven't been using often recently. I enjoyed very much to see how the colours change with the lightest touch of a moist brush, it almost felt like a new work was magically developing quickly right under my hands.

I saw a large mob of Eastern grey Kangaroos while visiting the Grampians National Park in western Victoria, here they are represented in the beautiful valley around Hall's Gap which is surrounded by very wild, rugged and beautiful mountains as well as heaps of wildlife including Kangaroos, Emus, Ekidnas and many species of birds including the Powerful Owl.

This original artwork is now for sale on my online shop which will be having a break from October 4th until November 1st, I will be enjoying new adventures with a long-awaited visitor from overseas... so, in case someone wants to avoid the November Christmas rush for art presents, I would suggest to order your gifts in September.

 Bush Heritage Australia is launching a campaign to raise funds to purchase and protect land to studying and conserving the endangered and recently re-discovered Night Parrot, thought to be extinct until two years ago. To find out more, please follow this link and if you wish, make a donation to support the project.

All the best,

Matteo

Season's Greetings

At this time of the year I always feel the need to thank all the people who have been supporting my art throughout the year. 2014 has been a year full of positive events, lots of art, and encouraging prospects for the future. My most sincere gratitude goes to all those who decided to make my art part of their daily lives. All your contributions not only allowed me to keep making art, they also allowed me to contribute in turn, to some charities I have been supporting for a while like Birdlife Australia, Birds Queensland, ANTaR (Australians for National Title and Reconciliation) and the Queensland Wader Study Group. 

This is a female Hardhead Duck, Aythya australis, from the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. Hardhead ducks do not have bright colours as many other species of ducks but looking closer I could see very interesting and subtle variations of iridescent purple, orange and brown red.

 I'm very excited to attend the Brisbane book launch for the childrens' book 'Poss in Boots' written by Lindsay Owen and illustrated by myself. The book launch will take place in the beautiful location of The Talking Circle, State Library of Queensland, Southbank, Brisbane on Thursday, January 15 at 11am. As music is part of the book's story there will be live folk music as well as light refreshments. It is a free event for which we have to thank the State Library of Queensland for supporting local creativity. Children of any age are very welcome. The State Library of Queensland Shop is currently selling the books.

  Have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year,

MG

Christmas Ideas and a New Painting

I developed this watercolour after taking some photos of this immature Australian King-parrot on the front veranda, the patchy red of the head shows that this is a young male, with time the green feathers of its head will change to a bright red. Below is the first sketch I drew on my sketchbook with some colour studies to find the right mixes and colour harmonies.

Immature Australian King-parrot, watercolour on paper, 16.5 x 23.5 cm, © Matteo Grilli 2014

Christmas is getting closer, it's never too early to order a unique and original gift from my online store, with more than 140 items to choose from and an array of original works (worldwide free shipping), greeting cards, bookmarks, reproductions, a children's book, and more, there is something for any taste and budget. If you are overseas or your order is going to be sent outside of Australia, make sure to order before December 4th to allow enough time for your gift to be processed and delivered. If your gift stays in Australia, you should order by December 18th.

And, if one artwork is not enough, why not ordering a copy of my book 'Watercolour Explorations on Australian Wildlife' containing a large collection of artworks completed between 2010 and 2013?

Until next time,

MG

New painting, a new gallery opening soon and a new book just released

This amazing creature visited the outside of my studio a few times in the summer, I enjoyed getting lost in the detail and movement of all those sinuous scale patterns. This image is available as a greeting card.

Carpet Python, watercolour and white gouache on colored board, 40 x 30 cm,© Matteo Grilli

Recently I was invited to feature my artwork in a new art and craft gallery called Coastal Artisans, opening soon in Perigian Beach. A selection of my original framed watercolours with a sea/beach theme will be featuring the collection. For more information on the event see the attached brochure.

Last weekend I had the pleasure to spend a couple of days in the lovely country town of Crows Nest where Lindsay Owen and I  launched the Children's Book "Poss in Boots' at the Arts and Crafts centre.

We've enjoyed meeting so many people and signing the books, Lindsay wrote the story about four years ago and then asked me to work on the illustrations, it took a while but eventually Lindsay was able to independently publish her book.

'A blue wooden house with a large veranda, a local Bush Band and a little possum with loads of determination and rhythm'.

This cute 14-page book will tell you the story of a little possum with a special love for dancing and music among the inhabitants, animal and human, of the Australian bush...

Order Your Copy

 

Southern Angle-headed Dragon

Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve is a fifty five hectares subtropical rainforest overlooking the Glasshouse Mountains. Entering a rainforest always feels like entering a secret world of new smells, colours and sounds. Just like when entering a cathedral, it comes natural to speak softly, if speaking at all.  It is very peaceful, and before you realise it you are surrounded by Red-legged Pandemelons criss-crossing your walking track, Yellow-throated Scrubwrens hiding in the undergrowth and rainforest pigeons, doves and parrots calling from the high canopy of old trees.

And then what a surprise! You may come across this Southern Angle-headed Dragon, Hypsilurus spinipes resting on a post in front of a Red Cedar, Toona ciliata.

All original artworks available on my store are now shipped worldwide at no cost... just thinking about Christmas.

Best,

Matteo

December News

I found this beautiful butterfly in a flower bed in the Brisbane City centre. Dead. It is a Lime or Chequered Swallowtail, Papilio demoleus. I decided to pick it up and as gently as possible I placed it in my bag. Unfortunately it lost both antennas, but still retained its beauty. I find it surprising how butterflies maintain their beauty for so long after dying.

The November/December issue of the Australian Wildlife Secrets Magazine , a beautiful magazine full of great photography and useful informations on Australian wildlife, just featured an illustration of mine of Common Ringtail possums, one of the cutest night creatures of the suburbs. Australian Wildlife Secrets is published bi-monthly and is available through newsagencies or by subscription and delivered to your door (Australia wide and overseas). Here are two images of the latest issue:

Another awesome wildlife magazine that recently featured my work is WILDLIFE Australia Magazine , published quarterly since 1963 by the community conservation group Wildlife Queensland as a major environmental awareness and educational initiative. The magazine is only available for subscribers both in Australia and overseas. Here are two images of the latest issue:

 To the Chief Editor of Australian Wildlife Secrets, Simon Watharow and to the Editor of WILDLIFE Australia Magazine, Saren Starbridge, goes my most sincere thank you for taking interest in my work.

For those interested into buying my original artworks , I would like to tell you that you are still in time to get them before Christmas if you are in Australia, at no shipping cost. No cost worldwide shipping will be available for all original artworks only until January 1st 2013.

Since this will be my last post for 2012, I would like to thank everybody who have been following and supporting my artistic endeavours, this last year has been really special in so many ways. 

Regardless of your religion or cultural background, I would like to wish you the best time spent with loved ones and a New Year full of inspiration, gratitude, beauty, good humour, good luck and wildlife!

Matteo

Matteo Grilli Wildlife Art Christmas Ideas

I've been rather busy lately stocking up my online store for the upcoming season, which is always exciting as it is a chance to look back into what I've been working on for the last few years and find a new way to look at my creative endavours. For instance, there was a big painting, a composition of many feathers of different Australian bird species that I was not sure what to make out of it, so I decided to cut out every feather with tiny sissors and mount them on a hard paper board and here we go! A new collection of bookmarks. The same with a few more feathers and a couple of Eucalyptus leaves from a painting that has never been finished.

I also decided to take some more paintings to be professionally scanned and released as open edition archival Giclee reproductions. It was the right time to get this Pale-headed Rosella out there, a bird and a painting I'm very fond of. This bird used to come and visit the big tree in our backyard and this is one of my earliest study of Australian birds. It is now available as small, medium-size and large print.

Probably not so colorful as a parrot, but certainly not less intersting or charming, the Bush-stone Curlews of the first painting of the Avian Faces Series could not be missing from this selection. The four faces of this awesome bird are also available as small, medium-size and large prints.

For those who love the colours of australian cockatoos, here we have the Galahs feeding on the ground after a storm. This painting is also available as small, medium-size and large print.

My last choice was for the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, who after a feed on our veranda, decided to observe and study myself sitting on the chair in front of him, revealing his curious and inquisitive nature, as well as the other paintings this is also available as small, medium-size and large print.

Each print is individually signed and dated. For more informations regarding sizes and shipping, please follow the links provided.

My work is not over, I'm now organizing for getting greeting cards printed and I hope to be able to release them very soon.

I'm open to suggestions and feedback and I would love to hear from you, 

until next time,

all the best,

M