The Dodo Project

The dodo project is an instagram based project which focusses on investigating and exploring the extinct birds of the world.

This project was born of the desire to use my art as a means to educate and raise awareness about exinction, and some of the causes of extinction, and also to educate about Island biogeography, and about habitat's,  how critical habitat is to biodiversity and species survival and how fragmented habitat can lead to endangered species

The project was inspired by a number of ideas and experiences, brewing in the recesses of my mind and coming to the front, after being inspired by the work of filmaker Heide Lee Douglass.

Many years ago I read a book 'Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in the age of extinction' which had a lasting imprint on me, I have subsequently lived on Norfolk Island where 7 of the 15 bird species are exinct, and became aware of the connection with colonialism and these extinctions. And then, finally, I found myself doing two small art courses this winter, one on watercolours (nests and feathers) and the other on painting birds.... somehow this all came together in this idea to undertake an open ended project to paint as many extinct birds of the world as I am inspired to, starting with the icon of bird extinction - the Dodo.