The journey of creating 22 birds

In late 2023, I was approached by public art consultants, Artduo to create two artworks for a hotel in Sydney. At that time it was embargoed as the launch would not occur till early 2024. For three and a half months I went about researching, drawing and selecting the birds and flora as the inspiration from the interiors of the hotel as well as a beautiful, tropical wallpaper being installed in a restaurant.

You can follow my journey by clicking on the image below to read the book.

Below are the birds and plant life which inspired the patterns I would create on the bodies of each bird. This takes time to consider the shape, feathers, structures in order for them to translate well when I pierce holes or press markings. Then I go on to the actual making. That alone is another story! In a nutshell, the birds are slip cast, joined, pattern penciled, pierced / pressed, fired, sanded and polished. It’s a laborious process but one I love so much due to my love of birdlife and all creatures/flora and fauna great and small.

The final install and seeing my imagined artworks captured beautifully by Sydney Photographer Frances Mocnik. I love the ‘peep’ shots too.

Thanks

I would like to thank Artduo for the opportunity to create two new artworks and pushing new boundaries for me with displaying them as a wall artwork. I’ve been displaying my birds as objects since 2015 so this was a very exciting outcome.
 
I would also like to thank Andrew Sikorski from Art Atelier Photography who photographed the birds for my portfolio. Kurt Wang at Fidoso Picture Framing who framed them beautifully. Photographer Frances Mocnik for documenting them in their new home.

Finally, my heartfelt thanks to Novotel Sydney City Centre for displaying ceramics as wall art in their newly renovated hotel and aptly reflecting your new restaurant Birdie Bar & Brasserie.

Reveal time!

I’m excited to show the birds in their beautiful frame.  The public art consultants Artduo engaged Kurt Wang from Fidoso Picture Framing to frame not just one set of birds but two! I’ll reveal the 2nd set soon.

He did a wonderful job and arranged the birds as I had envisaged. I’m incredibly lucky the client and all involved agreed on the colour scheme of the background, slightly deep set box frame and warm colour to highlight the beauty of each bird. Sometimes minimalist can speak louder than words, in this case the porcelain and patterns lure the viewer in to see what the art is all about.

Photo courtesy of Artduo (edited by Anne) who collaborated with Novotel Sydney City Centre on this special renovation and newly launched Birdie Bar and Brasserie.

Closeup of Birdie | Public Artwork

A little preview of what’s to come. This is a closeup of one of my artworks located at Novotel City Centre in Sydney, Australia. I created a series of larger birds with patterns derived from the wallpaper chosen for the interiors of the recently launched Birdie Bar & Brasserie. Each one is hand made with a bird pattern and its accompanying flora. They are slipcast, pierced and /or pressed, fired twice, sanded, polished and then placed in their new home. I’ll reveal if it’s a plinth or wall artwork…can’t help myself as I do love a good art mystery!

Photo courtesy of Artduo who collaborated with Novotel on this special renovation.