JOURNAL

Spinning blue gum in the kitchen

I amble down the corridor, my head still full of sleep and dreams. Throughout the night I had dreamed a lot of the usual nonsense, but I also remember my nanna had appeared. Her memory reminds me of cosy, warm nights at her house when I was younger and it

SOLO exhibition in 2021

A public and free exhibition of my work is scheduled to be held in the Melbourne City Library public gallery during spring 2021. The exhibition will feature recent works that depict Australian nature accompanied by written memories of how I found them. I will post more information as the date

Wise Corella

I’m standing in a gravel parking bay beside a country road in Victoria. I stopped here because I wanted to look at a monument, but I spent more time buying mixed lollies from the neighbouring general store. As I enjoy the childish, sweet delight of a caramel bud, I lean

Me and UooUoo for the Royal Children’s Hospital – Part 1

In early 2020 I was selected as one of 100 artists who would participate in the Royal Children’s Hospital 150th Anniversary art trail. We were commissioned to each paint a statue of a UooUoo, a mythical creature kind of like a friendly wombat of prehistoric proportions, in our own unique

Wallaby standing still in the Grampians

I’m looking up at an ochre and charcoal cliff face that over time has been shaped and smoothed by the winds rolling up the mountain side. I can’t see down into the valley from here because the other side of the path is lined with foliage about two meters high.

Local gumnuts

It’s autumn and I know the sun is setting earlier, but I still have time to take a longer route on my walk home before I am confined inside for the night. I turn down a street I rarely go down because there is no reason for me to ever

Magenta and fuscia gumnuts

Beneath the eucalypt tree I can faintly smell its leaves and hear a shrill myna searching for nectar above. The red and pink fluffy stamen of gumnuts surround my feet in a carpet on the ground, in a similar way that my hair lines the floor after a haircut. It’s

Summer banksia

The shade from the trees is the only reason I am able to be out here in this heat for this long. I’m not carrying enough water to be able to walk for hours in direct sunlight. The vegetation around me thrives in this weather and won’t care if I

Spring wattle

I push the pedals hard to get my mountain bike up over the ridge. I have arrived at a Y junction in the dirt track. If I go right I can roll smoothly downhill towards the river. If I go left I’ll need to navigate a narrow, rocky path, chunky

Everything natural in Australia is unique and that’s something worth celebrating through art. These paintings have been inspired by my encounters with Australian nature.

JOURNAL