The Eastern Rosella is one of Australia's most beautiful birds. This one spends a lot of his time in the pink flowering gum tree in our garden - it's his favorite place. I love photographing him swooping through the branches - he's usually quite a shy bird, but when our tree is flowering, he looks joyful. This is one of my all time favorite artworks from my Last Light series.

Technique: My creative process is an adaptation of a technique developed by the ancient Greeks. I start by printing my wildlife photographs onto tissue paper using a specialist printer and heat-resistant inks. I then build up layers of wax onto primed wooden panels, embed the tissue into the wax surface, and continue adding layer upon layer of hardened beeswax, which I burn in with a live flame and then scrape back with metals tools. I enhance the image by applying oils, inks and pastels between the wax layers, add definition by line-carving, and create texture and depth by embedding various materials into the wax.

This archival piece does not need to be framed. It is waxed and painted on the edges and prepped with picture hardware on the back, ready to hang.

Dimensions: 30w x 42h cm

Encaustic on wooden board