Flight dreams of a Kakapo Print

Does a flightless bird have a desire to fly? Does it have some sort of memory of flight from its distant ancestors? The kakapo is a native bird to New Zealand. Being the world’s largest parrot and flightless it is also a tasty treat for NZ’s introduced predators. In the end don’t we all strive to reach higher, to travel to new lands, to be free? But many of us stay firmly grounded by our own fears, society, economics, class, race etc. At least in our dreams we can go anywhere following unseen winds across vast expanses to distant shores where we can be whatever we wish. This piece comes from my sketching and photography in nature particularly of insects, butterflies, birds and flying seeds. There are many layers of oil paint applied in both impasto textural strokes and thin glazes.