Birds in hats
If you have ever looked at a seagull and thought ‘‘What that seagull really needs is a tricorn hat’’, then Joshua Drummond has made your imagination manifest.
The Hamilton artist – now based in Auckland – has struck a chord with art lovers around New Zealand with his series of paintings that have the somewhat quirky theme of birds wearing hats. Those who believe birds in hats would have a limited appeal might be surprised by the reaction to Drummond’s works. He posted some of his artworks onto the online discussion board Reddit on Thursday, and it quickly became the most-read post in New Zealand, spurring a flurry of discussion.
Drummond said he was struck by the inspiration to adorn the dinosaur descendants with various forms of headdress after exhibiting his works in the 2015 Chromacon independent art festival in Auckland’s Aotea Centre.
‘‘It occurred to me that I did not have all that much stuff to take and sell. Most of the exhibitors at Chromacon had heaps of really amazing work, and it made me want to do a lot more with my art.
‘‘I had painted a few birds as gifts for people and they had gone down really well. Every artist and his dog does birds in New Zealand, and I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that. A lot of those pictures are fantastic. But I felt like doing something a little different.’’
He was also influenced by some obscure popular culture.
‘‘There was this book I had as a child about these anthropomorphic Australian birds that has stayed with me over the years. The other thing was the Super Smash Bros Nintendo game that I spent a lot of time playing. I played as Pikachu a lot because he was a great little character to play as, and he was also really annoying to everyone else, which was part of the attraction.
‘‘Part of his costume was that he got to wear this little wizard hat. I thought that a bird wearing a wizard hat would be funny, so I painted one. I called it Gandalf the Grey Warbler.’’
Other birds followed: A tomtit wearing a top hat, a rifleman wearing a policeman’s helmet and a fantail in a Fred Dagg-style outfit were added to his collection and he began selling prints. ‘‘They went like hot cakes.’’ Now with a menagerie of 11 hat-wearing birds in his resume, Drummond intends to paint at least 10 more and exhibiting the originals if he can find a willing gallery owner.
‘‘I’d love to do a kids’ book at some stage in the reasonably near future. In the meantime I’ll keep painting birds with hats in my spare time.’’
Drummond, whose daytime employment is at the New Zealand accountancy software firm Xero, has made waves online with his art before.
In 2014 a work he was attempting to sell on Trade Me titled Horrible Painting of Michael Laws was the subject of some quality banter in the listing’s comments section.
It eventually sold to a selfconfessed Nicolas Cage impersonator from Wellington for $705. He was also the creator of another Trade Me hit, A Relaxed Painting of John Key, which drew attention for the intriguing and entertaining description as much as the art, which was based on the artwork used in Zig Zag cigarette papers.
The Birds in Hats prints and more of artworks can be purchased from his website tworuru.com.