Pollination

'Pollination - Silvereye and Rattlesnake Bean',Nicola Moss.©2009. Acrylic on canvas. 60x60cm.

I have been working on a series of paintings looking at the relationship between plants and animals in the act of pollination. For many plants, flowers play the role of the 'lure' to encourage pollination. Birds, bees and other insects are attracted to flowers through their shape, colour and perfume. The painting above was inspired when I saw a small Silvereye bird on the Rattlesnake climbing beans in the vegie garden. It worked its way around the new bean flowers probing with its beak.