Papua New Guinea, Australia
I made illustrations for the 2nd edition of the Birds of New Guinea field guide between 2011 and 2014. After finishing the job, one of the authors, Thane Pratt invited me on a one month long expedition to Papua New Guinea. We’ve spent a few days first in northeastern Australia, around Cairns. Here I had the chance visiting legendary artist, William T. Cooper in his home. I was shocked receiveing the news of his death only a year later. I will cherish our meeting in my whole life.
The expedition was organized as a collaboration between the Bishop Museum of Honolulu (BPBM), the Papua New Guinea National Museum and the PNG Conservation and Environmental Protection Authority. The main purpose was to document non-native species, particularly plants along the 96 km long Kokoda Track. Beside this research, frogs and reptiles were also investigated, with 5-6 new species discovered during the 4 weeks. I spent most of the time painting. I tried to concentrate on the Birds of Paradise, have seen 10 species in total. This definitely was the best study trip ever in my life, I’ve returned with many pages of sketches, thousands of photos and a lot of inspiration. I’ve already created many paintings from the trip, and have more ideas in my mind. In 2016 I put together a Bird of Paradise exhibition in Austria.
