For over 50 years, Hank Spirek has painted bird life wherever he has lived around the world. A lifelong artist, Hank studied painting and sculpture at Northern Illinois University before going on to exhibit art in five countries.

Throughout his long career, birds have remained a favourite subject for Hank, who says he is drawn to them by their freedom.

Hank’s latest exhibition ‘Birds of Many Colours’ (Orange Art Society March 10–April 13) sees him take a more vibrant and tactile approach to capturing birdlife on canvas.

“This time, I decided to do birds in as bright colours as I can manage… I'm going to try to take the birds a little bit further than I've done before, maybe a little bit more surrealistic,” Hank said.

This approach is somewhat driven by necessity. Hank has been losing sight in his right eye and recently learned he has the same condition left.

“Firstly, it helps me to see them properly and I thought, What the hell! Use as much colour as possible,” Hank said.

“So the paintings I'm going to be showing — the colours really are bright, a lot of the paint is right out of the tube.

“And I try to get as much intensity as possible and also there is a relative thickness to the paint. I'm using basically a spatula to paint with — an impasto sort of thing to it.”  

Hank will be exhibiting over 20 paintings, oil on canvas, along with soft pastels – a medium has been experimenting with more recently.

Currently residing in Muswellbrook, Hank is looking to return to Orange this year.

When he left in 2022, Hank had intended to spend several years travelling through Europe but the fates weren’t on his side.

“Unfortunately I got sick the first day in the United States with Covid and after I made it out of the United States I got food poisoning,” he said. “Then I got something in Tangiers and I was sick every other week… I went to Barcelona and got sick a couple of times and then I went to Florence and got sick a couple of times and then I thought maybe my body is trying to tell me something and so I ended up coming back.” 

Before leaving Hank donated a large collection of his paintings and drawings to the Orange Art Society, which is being used to fund the ‘Spirek Prize’ an annual figurative art competition.

Entries for the 2024 Spirek Prize must be delivered to the Orange Art Society gallery between April 6-12, 2024. Works will be judged on Saturday, April 13, and the winner announced on Sunday, April 14. Entry forms are available from the Orange Art Society gallery or contact them by email: art@orangeartsociety.com.au

All are welcome to attend the official opening of Hank Spirek’s ‘Birds of Many Colours’ at the Orange Art Society gallery, 2pm on March 10. The gallery is located in the Cultural Centre, 22 Sale Street, Orange (opposite Harris Farm Markets).