ORIGINAL ART – ‘RIOT’, Rainbow Lorikeet

Description

‘Riot’

2023
Ink and watercolour
350mm x 455mm
by Shannon Dwyer

Certificate of Authenticity information:

‘Riot’ was created using a traditional nib dip pen and ink, along with professional-grade watercolours executed on 425gsm 100% cotton rag watercolour paper. This original artwork includes the ‘Shannon Dwyer Original’ embossment and hand-penned signature validating it as an original artwork of Shannon Dwyer.

The Rainbow Lorikeet occurs in coastal regions across northern and eastern Australia. Originally confined to forested areas, with human intervention, they’re now widely spread, commonly found in urban areas. They are often found in flocks and tend to roost in large groups. Ironically, the Rainbow Lorikeet is not only a living rainbow but also sexually monomorphic! As both the male and female rainbow lorikeet look identical with no visual difference between the two sexes (it would indeed make a fabulous mascot for the LGBTQI+ community)! The male Rainbow Lorikeet tries to impress the female with a display during the mating season including hanging upside down, aerial acrobatics or bobbing, bowing and prancing! Feeding mainly on fruit, pollen and nectar, their favourites being grevilleas, bottlebrushes and banksias, they also feed on fruits and small insects. Nectar gives them energy and pollen provides protein for healthy feathers. It’s brush-like tongue enables it to collect liquid nectar from deep inside flowers. This sugary food gives them their excitable and ‘high-spirited’ personality. Now, not many people know, but they sometimes get drunk on the fermented fruit that they eat to the point that they have problems flying straight and bump into things! Hilarious! In many places, including campsites and suburban gardens, wild lorikeets are so comfortable with humans that they can be hand-fed. Unfortunately, however, many wild rainbow lorikeets suffer in these circumstances, as they are often fed an inadequate diet such as bread with honey – which can lead to health and feather formation issues in young lorikeets. Conservation status: Least Concern.

*Artwork price includes signed original artwork, Certificate of Authenticity and free delivery within Australia*

Artwork is unframed so you don’t pay unnecessary freight costs. That way, you can choose the style/colour of your frame to suit your home.
This piece will be delivered in a large reinforced postage tube, rolled securely in (and protected by) acid-free tissue paper.

Framing tips and suggestions:
This piece is best ‘float-mounted’ and framed behind glass.
‘Float-mounting’ allows the paper to have a bit of ‘freedom’ which watercolour paper often needs as its rarely perfectly ‘flat’. By ‘mounting’ the artwork, it showcases the raw edges of the watercolour paper and subtle wave of the paper to enhance the the fact that its an original artwork with delicious ‘imperfections’.