Pastel on Supertooth paper

Image size 34 x 36cm  

Original Sold  Prints Available   (all proceeds to Hamilton wildlife shelter)

Something a little different and very special for my art this last week. I am a long-time fan of raptors and have more than a passing interest in painting goshawks having long ago rehabilitated a brown goshawk and happily got him back to the wild after a horrendous injury in a steel jawed trap.

This white form of the grey goshawk was brought to my friend Shelley at her Hamilton Wildlife Shelter and I was able to get up close under her supervision. Although I have seen white goshawks in the wild a few times I had never experienced one sitting quietly and within touching distance. I have rarely felt so in awe of a raptor but there is something indomitable and fierce about their will to live a free life that it tears my heart up to see one so damaged.... but her spirit is fiercely strong and it is this which may pull her through the crisis. The white form of goshawk is listed as vulnerable in my home state of Victoria and they are sometimes shot by ignorant people who see any predator as a threat to be removed no matter what. Sadly, this is exactly what happened to 'Olivia' and she was brought to Shelley with 7 shotgun pellets embedded through her body as well as a partial dislocation in her shoulder. Unable to properly fly she was hit by a passing car and then brought to the shelter for possible rehabilitation. Olivia is now in specialised care and there is apparently a good chance that through the care of a raptor-specialist vet she may yet take to the skies once more. Our fingers are all crossed for her that this truly magnificent and lion-hearted lady will hunt again before too long. In the meantime, the local wildlife authorities have used one of my photographs of Olivia in the local newspapers to draw attention to the stupidity of hurting such an awesome creature and also highlight the severe penalties if caught. I hope this painting also gives people an idea of just how magnificent these creatures truly are.