Ryan Rivers Art

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY to one of the most important people in the world! I owe a lot of my passion for art and animals to David Attenborough as his love of nature was infectious to my child heart and inspired me to draw the nature I loved so much. I could quote entire episodes of his documentaries before I could read and I drew the animals and plants he spoke so fondly about. His narrations have echoed through my past and continue to inspire my art to this day. His fondness for the arts and natural world led him to the studio of the late natural illustration William T Cooper and this changed the course of my life for good.

I found my people among dedicated animal lovers that aspired to capture the beauty and their passion for their subjects and I became obsessed with this world of green and blue. For lack of a better way of putting it, I fell in love with the environment and its conservation! David has been a glowing gem of a person among a world that otherwise often seems indifferent to nature in its raw untamed form. I truly appreciate this man and his incredible dedication to nature and education.

Want to see my work in person!? I currently have a piece displayed in the Surrealist Art Prize until the 17th of November!

I am fortunate enough to be exhibiting beside a variety of talented artists from across Tasmania. I am always excited and honoured to have my art displayed next to so many amazing artists and with such a large variety of styles and talents!

INKTOBER day 28 and the prompt is 'skeletal'

I've drawn a thylacine skeleton for this prompt as I haven't actually drawn or painted a Tasmanian tiger before. There is a reason for this. My everyday practice as an artist is to draw from feelings connected to a shared memory or encounter with an animal or plant in its wild habitat. While I wish it was the case, I have yet to witness a thylacine alive and so all of my connections to these beautiful animals are from museum wet specimens, bones, pelts and taxidermy. Due to the thylacine being classified as extinct and there being no reports in recent history with substantial evidence suggesting otherwise, I am highly unlikely to ever see a living Tasmanian tiger, but I can dream.

INKTOBER day 26 and the prompt is 'puzzling'

I always associate puzzles with intelligence and although all animals and living things are intelligent in their own ways I am always astounded by corvids. One time I observed a forest raven perched on a tree next to a road with a nut in its beak. As a car drove by, the bird dropped the nut in front of the car's path. When the car didn't drive over the nut the first time the raven swooped down, picking it up and repeated this behaviour until a car happened to run it over and crack it open.

INKTOBER day 22 and the prompt is 'button'

I've decided to go with Craspedia variabilis, commonly known as Billybutton flowers. This plant is an endemic of Tasmania and is a native herb found in dry forests and woodlands. This beloved common flower is a popular plant in floral bouquets and in patterns for its bright yellow spheres and unique appearance.

INKTOBER day 18 and the prompt is 'Deal'

My favourite form of a deal in nature is symbiosis, a situation where two or more lifeforms exchange benefits for one another. A little known example of this type of relationship exists here in Tasmania between the burrowing crayfish and the native button grass. Burrowing crayfish create perfect conditions for button grass to grow by boring holes which aerate the muddy soils, and in turn bottom grass creates the perfect dense root structure to hide away in for the burrowing crayfish.

We're back to do INKTOBER

The first prompt 'mustache' made me think of a little pademelon that likes to visit our house. She has a half moustache marking on her muzzle and always looks to me with a sweet curious gaze. I am currently away from my studio space so I have done her portrait in a purple pigma micron pen.

I'm excited to be doing again and hope you can all join me on my little adventure

Another step in the development, all foliage complete! Next up is the Grevillea 'Amber Blaze' aspect morphing into the eastern spinebills 😁

Some Grevillea 'Amber Blaze' foliage on this piece I'm working on. Just enjoying the colours against the deep background.

More work in progress. Still getting my head around this project. Her Quoll-ities are starting to come through.