Helen Casey

The magic of the Ruru - Artwork by Helen Casey

The magic of the Ruru - Artwork by Helen Casey

The New Zealand Morepork (Ruru) The morepork is a small, compact, dark-brown owl. Its striking yellow to yellowish-green eyes are set into two facial disks either side of a small sharply hooked bill. The back feathers are dark-brown spotted sparsely with off-white. The breast is dark-brown variably streaked with cream and brown through to rufous. The legs are feathered legs down to the yellow feet.

The Wellington Art show - An Artist's impression

The Wellington Art show - An Artist's impression

Growing up in Breaker Bay was amazing for a child obsessed with creatures of all kinds from birds to bugs to fish so I picked up a pencil and began drawing them. Dreaming of being an artist I graduated from Wellington School of Design in 1992. After many years as an illustrator I turned my focus to being an artist. My intricately detailed wildlife art is influenced by my time as a scientific illustrator at Te Papa, and my own traditional Celtic visual culture.