African elephant Artwork

Hello, Myself Venus Bird, I am self taught watercolour artist and a bird lover. Myself and my partner Nayan Shrimali we create miniature paper relief artworks and watercolour illustrations. "The Paper Ark," formerly called NVillustration, is a artistic collaboration between Venus Bird and Nayan Shrimali. The Paper ark strives to redefine paper as a material and use art as a means of educating people about our planet's unique biodiversity. We want to bring attention to how fragile everyone is through art and stories. To pique viewers' curiosity and encourage them to learn more about our wildlife, we took on the challenge of creating miniature, highly detailed birds, animals and all the beautiful beings found in the world. ​ Mother Earth is our greatest motivator; we go birdwatching and exploring the wilderness around our city on a frequent basis. Every time we go out, we return with our minds full of amazing experiences and information, such as aiding Red Wattled Lapwing chicks to cross a road, releasing a turtle back into a river from a field, or witnessing a butterfly emerge from a pupa in the morning. And there is still so much to experience and see in nature that one lifetime will not suffice. ​ We therefore hope to create a world that is more conscious of and knowledgeable about the wildlife they share the planet with by using the simple material paper as our medium and exploring the versatile characteristics of paper to create art which is inspired from our beloved wild beings. Nayan & Venus started their miniature art series in 2018 with a goal of creating 1000 artworks, one artwork a day for complete 1000 days. The 1000 days of miniature art series was focused on wildlife and its main aim was to create awareness through art. They completed their series in 2020 September. ​ Their work is dedicated to nature and through their art they want to show the importance and beauty of Nature to the world. ​ Their work is exhibited internationally and featured in many prestigious publications.