Mungo Sunset

Some people somehow manage not to see the beauty and complexity in ‘dry scrub country’. Just drive through on the way to somewhere! Now the beauty and grandeur of a sunset most can appreciate but with a little more curiosity and searching eye the ‘dead’ country comes to life.

Little jewels like pardalotes can be difficult to find in the upper branches of the taller trees in higher rainfall areas. I the short Mallee Scrub however this Striated Pardalote and I came eye to eye.

Striated Pardalote

Spotted Sand-Dragons (My best guess) scuttle around.  This one approximately 19cm long. Flocks of White-browed Woodswallows rest in the top branches briefly before joining hundreds of others wheeling overhead.

Spotted Sand-Dragons (My best guess)

The endless variety of flowers, reptiles, birds and mammals can keep you enthralled for days. Sunrises and sunsets a stunning beginning and end to each day and star filled night sky’s in between.

Mungo Dunes as the sun sets.

Collen and I took a tour around the Willandra Lakes World Heritage area in Mungo National Park. Human occupation for over 40,000 years. Our aboriginal guides pointed out a fireplace that had emerged from the sand- carbon dated at over 7000 years.

Colleen and I were fortunate to be able to help launch a visionary plan to place Wildlife Art in its rightful place in the world of art. Wildlife Art Museum of Australia will be an Australian first. A showcase for art, inspired by nature, wildlife and all its glorious diversity. Set in native gardens and wetlands in the Grampians. WAMA is destined to be a major destination for lovers of art and nature. The launch reflected the professionalism of the WAMA team, the venture and its grand vision. Congratulations to all involved.

To see and hear the ABC’s coverage follow link to Nation’s first wildlife art gallery headed for the Grampians.

Wildlife and nature has been excluded from our National Galleries. Galleries showcase a diverse range of art whose inspiration and styles seem endless. Wildlife and the natural world are absent. There are some landscapes but these generally depict scenes altered by man. There are some paintings include animals and birds but as bit players in a work or dead on a table waiting to be cooked. Try to find one with wildlife as the feature, the sole inspiration, alive in all its splendor.

I have no doubt that once established WAMA will be embraced by the public. Dare I suggest its success may even encourage or shame our gallery curators into including the works inspired by nature in their collections! Whilst blockbuster exhibitions attract large numbers of visitors attendance for the permanent collection is flagging. National Gallery collections should not only aim to make celebrities of the curators and their ‘superior’ understanding of what art they deem we should view. It should reflect the interests and passions of the whole community. Satisfying the curators personal agendas should not be the goal of our National Galleries. They should aim to bring art into the lives of all people of the world. The curator’s failure to include art inspired by wildlife and nature is inexplicable. Not recognising its potential to attract this untapped source of visitors is inexcusable!

Just a sample of my travel images & video from 2010 to temp you to join Steve Morvell & Stephen Powell Wildlife Artist Photographers on our Artist – Photographer Guided African Safari. 2012
Lake Victoria, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire, Masai villages.
14 days ex Nairobi:
September 24th to October 10th 2012
& October 15th to October 29th. 2012
A fourteen day exploration from the largest lake in the world, through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro ecosystem, east towards the Tarangire, canoeing, game viewing, walking safaris and remote Masai villages and night drives.
Steve Powell and fellow master wildlife artist Steve Morvell are in the planning stage for a 2012 Artist Guided African adventure. This is an opportunity to experience Africa with a group of like minded fellow travelers. Your African Wildlife Art safari guided by wildlife artists – photographers eager to share their knowledge and skills. Learn the art of sketching animals direct from life, in the field with Steve Morvell as your guide. He is a master of the art with decades of experience creating thousands of stunning images. The East African Safari and Touring Company, backed by years of experiences delivering a quality real African safari experience.
A trip of a lifetime!

Booking and inquiries: Stephen Powell Wildlife Artist Photographer

This lyrebird is just 1 of 10 lyrebirds heard during a late afternoon walk in the Dandenong Ranges National Park. I was able to film 3 birds from as close as 2 meters. There appears to be an echo but is is in fact a second bird singing close by. My apologies to the video purists as it is not very steady. Unfortunately I was not equipped for filming. I don’t normally carry a tripod but prefer a Cullman 080 Shoulder-Table-Pod used as a shoulder stock. This is great for getting grab shots and is much steadier than hand held. However it is not suited to filming. Combined with the weight of the 7D and zoom is a strain and the results are less than perfect. The conditions were also difficult. Cloudy and late in the day. High ISO also diminished the quality. None the less I was very pleased with what I managed to get. Filmed on a hand held Canon EOS 7D Lens            EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM

Postscript to this outing: I have a legacy of this lyrebird excursion. I learnt from previous expeditions that spiders like biting me on the legs so I now wear gaiters to the knee. Undeterred the spider this time bit me on the wrist. I did not notice at the time but an itch developed. Over 3 days this has progressed to a weeping 7mm sore. A hot and swelling area 12X6 cm. Just back from the doctor!

Just another day in the life of a Wildlife Artist – Photographer

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo photograph by Stephen Powell Wildlife Artist

Added a walk in the forest to my get fit program. Lyrebirds weren’t obliging for photography but they did serenaded me throughout my walk.

Laughing Kookaburra photograph by Stephen Powell Wildlife Artist

I participated in a lyrebird survey during which Balangara Films shot some this video. I discovered they have included a brief clip of me in the trailer! Look for me looking old in a beanie ’I had one mimic my son’

Stephen Powell Wildlife Artist - Yellow-billed Hornbill Painting

OPEN STUDIOS EXHIBITION
NAKED BEAST: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Burrinja Gallery
Opening at 6:30pm Friday 20th of May 2011,
on display until 26th June
The annual Open Studios exhibition features a key work from each participating studio. This exhibition is a unique opportunity to see and experience work from each of the artists in one gallery, making Burrinja a great place to start your studio tour.
Contact: (03) 9754 8723
openstudios@burrinja.org.au
www.openstudios.org.au

My images of a Lyrebird and a Lace monitor have been used to illustrate an article by Peter Macinnis – Where the wild things are. Inside History Magazine May – June edition 2011

Lyrebird Pen and watercolour sketch by Stephen Powell Wildlife Artist

Lace monitor pencil drawing by Stephen Powell

Waterbuck - Oil painting by Stephen Powell

12/05/2011
Steve’s and I take what appears to be quite a quite different approach to how we create our art. However frequent discussions have revealed more similarities than differences in the thought and methods that are the basis of our work. To teach others we have both struggled with first understanding how we create our art and then how to explain it to others. This was an opportunity to share and reinforce the core elements of our work and teaching.

My presentations also aim:
To deconstruct the process into steps from reference selection to finished work into manageable stages and then into simple tasks with few variables.

To dispel the myth of the ‘gifted artist’ or ‘God given talent’. I do this by telling my story and that of my students with examples of our humble – ‘apparent gift less’ beginnings and what we have achieved.

Lake Victoria – Serengeti – Ngorongoro – Tarangire – Masai villages

14 days ex Nairobi October 2012. Cost is still to be decided.

A fourteen day exploration from Lake Victoria - the largest lake in the world, through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro ecosystem, east towards the Tarangire. Canoeing, game viewing, walking safaris and remote Masai villages and night drives.

See more detail on http://www.stephenpowell.com.au/Africa2012.htm

Image taken on Africa 2010 Wildlife Art Workshop. Stephen Powell Steve Morvell Steve Morvell & Stephen Powell Artist Guided African Safari 2012