ART BEAT: Popular flights of fancy

MOST people would be more than a little concerned if a dead bird turned up on their doorstep. But for artist Talitha Rosanne Brauchli it's a precious gift.
The Bethlehem woman specialises in painting birds, in scenes with antique memorabilia.
Her paintings are so popular that it's rare for them to be displayed in art galleries. Most of her pieces are commissioned and are homed before they have a chance to be exhibited.
So an upcoming exhibition at Harrisons Gallery in Tauranga is a rare chance to see a piece of Brauchli's art.
The artist is one of 15 to feature in Strokes of Colour, an exhibition solely of paintings created in the watercolour medium.
Brauchli's piece features a family of pukeko in an old shed full of rusty machinery. It's very detailed and took eight months to complete.
It is this intricate detail which prompts the dead birds on the doorstep. Brauchli enjoys painting life-sized versions of birds, and often used taxidermy specimens to get the details correct.
"I got into painting birds and people just kept wanting them, so I kept painting them," she says. "The more I paint them the more people want them."
Brauchli recently returned from an Australian trip with her artist mother Susan Gloria Brauchli, during which the family visited wildlife parks to get inspiration for paintings.
"When we go on bush walks we look out for different things. We take so many photos."
Brauchli also makes a habit of going to antique and second-hand shops to find quirky pieces to paint.
"Sometimes when I go to an antique shop I see all these things I get very excited about.
"Because the paintings take a while, we have stuff at home for years. I have a beautiful old camera still waiting to be painted. I've got so many lovely things I haven't painted yet, that I'm looking forward to."
And in her commissioned pieces many of the items painted are precious items of family memorabilia. In one case Brauchli painted some shoes a woman had worn as a child; in another a thistle for a Scottish client.
"People have special mementos they want to put in the painting," she says.
The paintings are treated as family heirlooms, and as such are framed to archival standards, so they can be passed on from generation to generation.
Brauchli will also add a personal touch into prints of her paintings.
  
Like Brauchli, Tauranga artist Margaret Fairs is known for her watercolours. Fairs enjoys the clean, quick and spontaneous nature of the medium and says, "I like happy accidents."
She describes her paintings as eclectic, depicting life in New Zealand. And the paintings in Strokes of Colour will be familiar to Western Bay residents. One features a scene from the camping ground at the base of Mauao, the other is a beach scene featuring a kete of pipi with the Mount in the distance.
The camping scene has a special meaning for the artist - it's the exact spot where she spent many "idyllic" childhood holidays. The contrast of the simplicity of camping, with the high-rise apartments on Marine Parade inspired the piece.
"When I saw the apartments I felt that was a real contrast of lifestyle. They all probably go to the same cafe at the bottom of the Mount to have their breakfast."
A day at the Mount Main Beach can provide the inspiration for dozens of paintings, Fair says.
The artist paints from memory, rather than specific scenes. Like Brauchli, she loves birds, and often paints seagulls.
Gallery manager Gaye Carrothers says Harrisons has taken a different approach with Strokes of Colour, focusing on the medium rather than the subject matter or artist.
"This is a chance for Harrisons Gallery to showcase some new talent that Tauranga has not previously seen, alongside some of our very significant local and national stable of artists."
Watercolours are especially popular in the Western Bay, where people of all ages paint in the medium. "It's a wonderful medium to work with," Carrothers says. "There's something special about them."
* Strokes of Colour opens tomorrow night and is on exhibit at Harrisons Gallery until July 14.