Malachite Sunbirds and Protea neriifolia Original Painting

Nectarinia famosa and Protea neriifolia

Acrylic on watercolor paper, 2008

24 x 27″ framed; archival matboard, wood frame

I fell in love with South African flora, particularly proteas, as a grad student in the science illustration program at UC Santa Cruz. Visits to the UCSC arboretum inspired this piece, and while proteas are common in California gardens, I wanted to show one of their native pollinators. I chose the malachite sunbird as I loved the contrast of deep emerald green with coral pink.