Many of you will disagree that love is “for the birds”, assuming that you understand the term to mean worthless or trivial; however, if you met the birds at Belivah (our friend Roland’s district in Brisbane) you would see that I’m not knocking love at all. Peter and Pauline Scaly-Breasted Lorikeet are a couple wildly “in love” and they do everything together. They fly upon my knee (sonny boy) for a breakfast of bread; they hang about on the verandah when I’m painting (and almost get under my feet); and they wait patiently outside the screen door from the kitchen until someone decides to feed them. And when they’re not dining or seeking attention from the residents they sit in the frangipani trees and exchange sweet nothings in each other’s ears.

It’s no wonder I had to paint them. This could be the start of a new series. The smaller painting – a Christmas present for Mason (and much quicker to paint) – depicts a brightly coloured Rainbow Lorikeet, of which there are up to fifty or so who visit Roland’s feeding table every day.