Rainbow Bird, 2019, carbon ink, watercolour, monoprint and ochre, artist Judy Watson

Rainbow Bee-eater
Poem: NOT ALL RAINBOWS ARCH, by Lynn Nickols
Music: Rainbow Bee-eater by Nick Rheinberger on Baglama
Audio compilation and mixing by Boyd

Bird species:  104
Rainbow Bee-eater
Artist:  Judy Watson (Brisbane, Qld, Australia)
Writer:  Lynn Nickols (Canberra, ACT, Australia)
Musician: Nick Rheinberger  (Mittagong, NSW, Australia)

Poem:
NOT ALL RAINBOWS ARCH 

Azure flash
Lightning speed
Rainbow feathers polished
Brilliant eye
Snap of beak
Insect demolished.

Lynn Nickols ©

Rainbow Bee-eater call description supplied to musician Nick Rheinberger:
In flight gives frequent, quite pleasant, softly rasping or vibrating musical screeches; softer mellow chattering and subdued screeches while feeding; quiet twittering while resting. (Morecombe)

Judy Watson, Artist statement for Rainbow Bird, 2019
I feel a rush of joy when I see rainbow birds along water courses, as sentinels, their stark silhouettes sitting on powerlines and the flash of bronze under their wings against the sky. I love their brilliant colours like sparkling jewels, kingfisher beak and distinctive separated tail, the way they catch insects on the wing. Their nests in the ground are surprising. I associate these birds with the intense colours of the blue green subterranean water and plants from our Waanyi Country in N. W. Qld. Boodjamulla, the rainbow serpent / ancestral presence still resides in the waters of the gorge. These and other birds are like the messengers from our ancestors. I have painted some of them with red ochre as a mark of respect.

Artist Biography:
Judy Watson  You can see a biography on the Art Gallery of NSW website here)

Judy Watson is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane and Grahame Galleries, Brisbane.

Writer Biography:
Lynn Nickols was a freelance writer based in Canberra, A.C.T. She had travel articles, short stories and poetry published, won an award from the Fellowship of Australian Writers and has also ghost-written a biography for a migrant who was not confident in written English.

Musician Biography:
Nick Rheinberger is one of Australia’s most versatile creative people. He’s been in the radio business for over 25 years, and he’s also an award-winning comedy writer and copywriter, children’s entertainer and scriptwriter, as well as a journalist, podcaster, musician and teacher.

Nick is currently the morning show announcer for ABC Illawarra, a position he has held for the last eleven years. He is also the founder and  co-host of “The Male Room” podcast, and produces comedy for ABC Local Radio and documentaries for Radio National.

As a freelancer, Nick produced radio, tv, print, events and and digital projects for clients such as Optus, Comindico, Kelloggs and Peters. He wrote comedy for celebrities such as Elle McFeast, and speeches for important public servants who shall remain nameless. He’s written for tv shows such as Good News Week, Life Support and BackBerner, and was nominated for an AFI award for his scriptwriting on teen tv series “Minty”.

Nick is passionate about science, inviting scientists into his studio at every opportunity, writing a teenage musical for Science Week, and facilitating events at venues such as the Wollongong Science Centre and the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute.  (from Nick Rheinberger’s website)