Quoll Painting

I love heath country with its stunted, often windswept, trees and shrubs, as well as its wildflowers and little birds that dart around in the thickets. The wetlands nurture local and migratory birds and beautiful sedges. The creatures along the shoreline fascinate me, especially the crabs scuttling about and the birds perching on the high points, ever watchful for food and intruders. I love the patterns on the bark of the tall trees of the woodlands, with their gnarls, twists and turns, and the animals that hide by day and come out at dusk. My 'Habitats' series is inspired by the birds, animals and plants of the wetlands, woodlands, heath and shore. In this series of watercolours, I make marks using bark, leaves, lichen, seeds and sedges to suggest the habitat of each creature, without concern for scale or realism. This painting is 'Quoll'. It's inspired by the wonderful Eastern Quolls we often saw on Bruny Island, which is now their stronghold. They were once found throughout south-east Australia but, alas, no more. These beautiful animals look like a cross between a small cat and a squirrel. They come in two colours - fawn and black - each with vivid white spots on the body. We would sometimes hear a group that lived under the old doctor's house at Bruny Island Quarantine Station. This painting comes framed in natural timber. Note the 'in situ' photos above use a black frame, but the colour is the natural timber featured in the frame-only photo. The framed size is 90.5 cm x 73.5 cm.