By Samantha Wortelhock
Original Painting and Limited Edition Giclee print size: 750 x 500mm

The Story Behind The Painting
Samantha and Damien’s paintings have had a long history in Far North Queensland galleries. Their international following and the beauty of the tropics makes it a perfect meeting place for their paintings. During one trip to Mission Beach the artists were lucky to meet a few cassowaries and a woman who became a friend. Rosemary Aquilina is a cassowary fan and she taught the artists much about this beautiful ancient bird. Not only about the pressures on the bird in terms of human impact from cars but also in terms of the fact that the birds used to migrate from rainforest to beach and the wetlands...a pathway now taken up with the Cook Highway.

A couple of Cassowaries mate, desperate to reproduce offspring. This bird is essential for the propagation of many of Queensland's rainforest trees. In the background a father brush turkey fixes his own eggs as they 'cook' in the mound he has created. In the male Cassowary's expression is a clear impression that the bird has reached the point of no return.