100x75cm oil on canvas.

This painting was a finalist in the Brisbane Portrait Prize. In this self-portrait, I wanted to capture what it is like living with two vivacious parrots, particularly at bath time. Schiele, my female parrot, will demand I run both the shower and the sink so she can alternate between the two, drying herself on my hair and the hand-towel in between. Meanwhile Vonnegut the male, will patiently wait until it is his turn.

Keeping the birds out of the bathroom while I painted this from life was challenging. There’s varied shadow directions as I painted at different times of the day to accomodate my birds’ self-imposed schedule. I also had to move the painting out of the bathroom several times a week so they could shower.

watercolour on stretched paper, 90 x 90cm

100x100cm, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

100x100cm, synthetic polymer paint on board