Dimensions: 42cm x 30cm

Encaustic on wooden panel

Rainbow Dawn is part of the 2024-5 Wild Coast series, created to highlight the need to strengthen national nature laws to protect disappearing coastal habitat.

In this scene, Australia's Rainbow Bee-eater swoops down from the branches of a gum tree, as the sun lights up the sea and the winter sky beyond. These exquisite native birds build their nests in the sand dunes along Australia's eastern coast, in fragile tunnels lined with soft vegetation. They're easily destroyed by predators, rising seas and encroaching property development along the coast.

Rainbow Dawn uses a recycled, cradled wooden panel as its substrate. The image is created using a unique adaptation of the ancient Greek technique of encaustic painting, whereby an original wildlife photograph is mounted and then gradually transformed by burning layers of hardened bee-wax, resin and raw pigments into the surface. The finished result is museum grade and uniquely ethereal, creating the feeling of bringing the wilderness indoors.

This piece does not need to be framed as the edges are beautiful in their own right. It is prepped with picture hardware, ready to hang. It is professionally packed and can be shipped internationally.