Museum Birds

2009 saw a completion of a major collection of paintings and drawings based on my responses to the ornithology specimens at the SA Museum. I was able to access the collections, to sketch and photograph them and to make art works from them. 

My initial reaction of shock of seeing so many dead birds was quickly replaced by an overwhelming astonishment at their beauty and complexity. I have been driven to try to make art from these specimens and to give them a new life by making them the subject of my art.    

Conceptually both the paintings and drawings are much the same, having worked on them concurrently in my studio from sketches made at the museum. The drawings are intended as finished art works ready for framing and the paintings are stretched canvas or linen on frames ready for hanging.

Perhaps the drawings continue to gather strength from the years of printmaking practices in their graphic immediacy, while the paintings contain the inherent subtleties of colour. 


Many of these works were exhibited in the retrospective exhibition, ‘Rita Hall. Museum Studies 1969-2009’. 
 



Artwork in Series

Azure Kingfisher 1 2008 oil on canvas 60x66cm
Azure Kingfisher 1 2008 oil on canvas 60x66cm
Azure Kingfisher 2 2008 oil on canvas 60x66cm
Azure Kingfisher 2 2008 oil on canvas 60x66cm
Azure Kingfishers 2007 Oil on linen 85x92cm (1)
Azure Kingfishers 2007 Oil on linen 85x92cm (1)
Birds And Bird Bag 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Birds And Bird Bag 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Bitten 2008 Oil on canvas 148x95cm
Bitten 2008 Oil on canvas 148x95cm
Blue Birds 2009 Oil on Canvas
Blue Birds 2009 Oil on Canvas
Crossed Magpies 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Crossed Magpies 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Egret 2009 Oil on canvas 148x95cm
Egret 2009 Oil on canvas 148x95cm
Floating Robins 2008 oil on canvas 70x110cm
Floating Robins 2008 oil on canvas 70x110cm
Four Small Honeyeaters 2007 Oil on canvas 51x61cm
Four Small Honeyeaters 2007 Oil on canvas 51x61cm
Friarbird 2008 Oil on Canvas 60 x 66cm
Friarbird 2008 Oil on Canvas 60 x 66cm
Gull Billed Tern 2007 Oil on canvas 46x56cm
Gull Billed Tern 2007 Oil on canvas 46x56cm
Kookaburra 2008 Oil on canvas 30x91cm
Kookaburra 2008 Oil on canvas 30x91cm
Little Crows 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Little Crows 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Museum Specimens Part 1 2007 Oil on linen 77x84
Museum Specimens Part 1 2007 Oil on linen 77x84
Museum Specimens Part 2 2007 Oil on linnen 77x84
Museum Specimens Part 2 2007 Oil on linnen 77x84
Pied Kingfishers 2008 oil on canvas 60x66cm
Pied Kingfishers 2008 oil on canvas 60x66cm
Pigeon 2008 oil on canvas 66x84cm
Pigeon 2008 oil on canvas 66x84cm
Red Bird Collection 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Red Bird Collection 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Red Breasted Bird 2007 Oil on canvas 36x40cm
Red Breasted Bird 2007 Oil on canvas 36x40cm
Robin Laying On A Cloth 2008 Oil on canvas 60x66cm
Robin Laying On A Cloth 2008 Oil on canvas 60x66cm
Sandwich Tern 2007 Oil on canvas 46x56cm
Sandwich Tern 2007 Oil on canvas 46x56cm
Scarlet Robin 2008 oil on canvas 60x66cm
Scarlet Robin 2008 oil on canvas 60x66cm
Scarlet Robin 2008 oil on linen 85x91cm
Scarlet Robin 2008 oil on linen 85x91cm
Sea Birds with Bird Bags 2007 Oil on linen 76.5 x 83.5cm
Sea Birds with Bird Bags 2007 Oil on linen 76.5 x 83.5cm
Silver Gull 2006 Oil on canvas 45x55cm
Silver Gull 2006 Oil on canvas 45x55cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 1 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 1 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 2 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 2 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 3 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 3 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 4 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 4 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 5 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 5 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 6 Total size 80x135cm
Six Birds With Packaging 2006 Oil on canvas Part 6 Total size 80x135cm
Small Red And Yellow Birds 2007 Oil on canvas 50x56
Small Red And Yellow Birds 2007 Oil on canvas 50x56
Sooty Tern 2008 Oil on canvas 148x95cm
Sooty Tern 2008 Oil on canvas 148x95cm
Spotted Pardelote 2008 oil on canvas 85x91cm
Spotted Pardelote 2008 oil on canvas 85x91cm
Three Birds 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Three Birds 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Three Birds And A Wing 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Three Birds And A Wing 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Three Magpies And Bird 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Three Magpies And Bird 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
White Tern 2006 Oil on canvas 45x55cm
White Tern 2006 Oil on canvas 45x55cm
Yellow Throated Miner 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm
Yellow Throated Miner 2007 Oil on linen 77x84cm

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