BIOGRAPHY

Marie-Claire's artwork and writing have been published in magazines, journals and newspapers both in print internationally and online. With artworks hung in private collections and several art awards to her name, she has been exhibited in shows in Australia and overseas. Her work is licensed internationally for calendars and décor.

Influenced by a childhood divided between Sydney and a vineyard in the Upper Hunter Valley, engagement with nature forged her desire to depict and describe wildlife. This she has faithfully been doing since first beginning to draw and write as a young child.

To quote Fiona Edmonds-Dobrijevich, (lecturer and artist), ‘Her precocious talent for realist drawing was evident at a young age, but she has sustained this focus and skill within her art practice throughout her adult life… Her spectacular photorealistic drawings are detailed, layered and textural, giving a real sense of the threatened species she depicts.'

Self-taught, it is through dedicated practice that Marie-Claire Colyer has learned to write and to illustrate wildlife. And it is a subject matter that will remain close to her heart.

Relevance and Influences

As an Australian wildlife artist specialising in photorealistic drawings and acrylic paintings of birds and endangered species, my work bridges the gap between art and conservation. I am passionate about depicting the natural world. My wildlife art is a powerful way to create environmental awareness. I strive to create an emotion in the viewer that will lead people to act.

I grew up with one foot in suburbia and the other in the rural landscape. Weekdays on Sydney’s north shore. Every second weekend at an Upper Hunter vineyard, where welcome swallows nested on the back veranda, echidna drilled for ants under plumcot trees and platypus scouted for yabbies in the creek. All of which fostered my drive to portray nature. A way to highlight the precious life we have about us, before it is gone. The way the platypus has disappeared from the local creek. A way to raise awareness to conserve and restore. A reminder to take note and be grateful for even the most ordinary things; the orange striations of a fallen leaf, a feather, the silver twisting of weathered wood. Because everything in the natural world is extraordinary.

It’s not, ‘There’s a pretty bird, I’ll paint a pretty bird because people will buy a pretty picture’. Beyond aesthetics I strive for depth in my art. I want to convey that there is an extraordinary creature; study the colours of that plumage, the filaments of the feathers, the scales around its eyes and feet, its aerodynamic shape. To say, ‘look what is in our hands. Look at what we could destroy. Look at what we could nurture.’

My work is both a celebration of nature’s wonders and a call to action, encouraging awareness and inspiring efforts to protect our planet’s most vulnerable inhabitants. By bringing these animals to life on canvas, I hope to foster empathy, spark conversation, and contribute to a greater movement for wildlife preservation.

My art is my voice, and through it, I strive to make a difference—one painting at a time.

Themes

I am dedicated to painting and drawing the beauty, resilience, and fragility of the natural world, particularly endangered species. I create photorealistic portraits with the aim to record the wildlife around us, evoke an emotive response in the viewer, and to bring beauty and character into our internal environment, that of our working and living spaces.

I have a love for chiaroscuro and rim lighting, imbuing my subjects with strong contrasts, especially against dark backgrounds. This centres the viewers focus upon the animal, with minimal background distractions. For instance, in ’Cry for Conservation’ a series within ‘The Red List Collection’, these threatened species are painted against black backgrounds signifying the black of oblivion, of extinction.

Many of the endangered species I paint are of neutral tones, such as rhinos and koalas. Numerous birds on the other hand are of vibrant hues that I paint to celebrate their beauty and bring colour to my art practice. They enliven my body of work with more light-hearted pieces, as in the cheeky parrots in the ‘Wildlife Portraits Collection’. I love to embrace the colours of Australia’s birds after working on more muted art.

Wildlife art does not have to be doom and gloom, it is a reminder of the incredible uniqueness of what surrounds us. I aim to showcase animals at risk of extinction to raise awareness and inspire action, as well as direct attention to the value of even the most common of animals. With each artwork I aim to create detailed, photorealistic depictions that emphasise the individuality of each creature, whether it be the intense gaze of a Sumatran tiger or the sassy personality of a sulphur-crested cockatoo.

My art is more than just a visual representation—it's a movement toward preserving the natural world.

Artist’s Practice

My artistic practice is deeply rooted in personal observation and emotional connection with the natural world. Much of my work originates from my own photography, taken in the wild where possible, and when not, in zoos and sanctuaries where I can closely observe the animals. I also work from reference images shared with permission by photographers. These images serve not only as visual guides but as catalysts for memory and imagination—sparking the formation of artworks that often evolve slowly, born not from conscious design but from a kind of visual osmosis.

I’ve always collected moments: a flicker of movement, the texture of bark, the play of light on leaves. In the past, I carried a Canon camera everywhere. Now, my mobile phone captures the daily encounters that inspire me—branches twisted in abstract formations, birds darting through scrub, lichen on sandstone. These snapshots may seem incidental, but each one holds the potential to become part of a composition. A variegated fairy wren may perch on a spray of wattle flowers glimpsed weeks earlier, or a flame robin might land on a sunlit stump remembered from a bushwalk. These imagined pairings arise organically, often long after the original moment.

Connection is central to my work. I cannot begin a piece unless I feel a resonance with the subject. This emotional bond allows me to infuse something personal into each artwork and becomes a reflection of my relationship with it. Whenever possible, I study the animal in person, watching its movements, noting its postures, feeling the textures of fur, feathers, or skin. These tactile experiences add dimension to my work. For example, touching kiwi feathers revealed to me subtle but significant differences in the plumage of different species of kiwi that would have been impossible to fully grasp through photographs alone. This kind of intimate knowledge allows me to paint with greater authenticity and sensitivity.

My creative process is intuitive. I rarely sketch or plan compositions in a traditional sense. Instead, I let ideas incubate until a complete image takes shape in my mind’s eye. I begin by painting the background before bringing the animal into it. The eyes are almost always the first part I complete. They are the soul of the work. Once the eyes are alive, the painting comes to life. Even if the rest of the body is barely begun, those eyes anchor the piece and guide its development.

The final stage of any work—adding the highlights, refining shadows, drawing out texture—is my favourite. It is in these final layers that the artwork gains depth, movement, and realism. My aim is to create pieces that not only reflect the outward appearance of the animal, but also its spirit. I want the viewer to feel what I felt—that moment of connection, of recognition—and to come away with a greater appreciation for the wild beauty that still surrounds us.

Mediums and Current Work

My favourite mediums are Golden and Derivan Matisse Flow acrylic paints on stretched linen and cotton canvas, and Faber Castell Polychromos pencils on Canson Mi-Tientes Touch paper.

I have two main collections I am working on; ‘Wildlife Portraits’, a series of contemporary acrylic 91 x 61cm paintings of closeup birds and animals on solid-coloured backgrounds; and ‘The Red List Collection’ consisting of series of A2 - A0 sized acrylic paintings of threatened and endangered species on dark backgrounds.

Aspirations

My aspiration as a wildlife artist is to create a body of work that resonates deeply with others—art that moves people, connects them with the natural world, and leaves a lasting impression. Each piece I create is an attempt to capture the essence of the animals I depict—not just their form, but their spirit and presence.

Nature is both resilient and fragile, awe-inspiring and precious. If my art can inspire even one person to pause, reflect, and feel a sense of responsibility toward the wildlife that surrounds us, then I know it has served its purpose.

Ultimately, my goal is to not only celebrate the beauty of the natural world, but to advocate for its protection—one drawing, one painting, one connection at a time.

Marie-Claire Colyer