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Major Mitchell Cockatoos have such beauty. The delicate shades of pink with their striking red and yellow crest, drew me to paint these spectacular birds. They are regarded as one of Australia's most beautiful cockatoos and sadly their numbers have declined since European settlement. One reason for their threatened species status is their gentle nature, losing nesting sites to other birds and feral European honey bees. I decided to paint these birds amongst Cootamundra Wattle, a native tree to central Western NSW in Australia, and a food source for Major Mitchell's. This iconic Acacia has intricate blue-green foliage with masses of lemon-yellow powder-puff flowers in winter. It is now invasive outside its natural region. By painting these two species, I wanted to capture the opposite sides of biodiversity highlighting how delicate our natural environment can be.
