Conservatory of specimens-collection
I aim to collect the joy of observation in a way that preserves the curiosity. For the house plant killers, mysterious pet collectors, etymology enthusiasts who aren’t a fan of the crawly aspect of bugs this is for you as it is for me.
Un-deadable plants, birds in flight, unreal butterflies, stinkless skulls and bones, moths, beetles and bugs of all kinds.
There is an intrigue in anatomy and knowing what lays beneath the fabric of the cosmos. unraveling and weaving that back together in layers of paint is a joy and challenge to me
I love bugs. Love Love them. This series was born of a need to collect the joy of observation, visual specimens.
For the house plant killers, mysterious pet collectors who don’t need another life to be responsible for. This collection is for you and for me. unreadable plants, stingless skulls, unreal butterflies moths and beetles.
Like wildly rich aristocrats of the past hoarding vast collections of plant specimens and exotic animals from their travels in glass walled humid greenhouses. but without the possibility of imminent distraction leading to death.
Cruelty free specimens that preserve the curiosities of flora and fauna.
Butterfly painting under resin layer.
Part of a larger body of work capturing the rush of excitement and fleeting nature of the natural world.
Blink and you will miss a Butterfly, to be able to cease time and capture the vibrancy of the form in paint is joyful.
Brining beauty, brightness and connection to nature into homes is part of my creative dream. The art we choose is so personal and I hope this lands with someone who will treasure it through time and pass it down to their family.
Recycled timber is one of my favourite things to Paint on and I have been lucky to reclaim lots of beautiful timbers from the building industry destined for the tip. Freshly cut ‘waste’ from the building industry given new life and treasured as the precious resource it is.
I find the most mundane of moths and butterflies to be the most interesting the subtle changes in their tones, intricate patterns and camouflage. So un assuming and surprising in their ability to be hiding in plain sight.
Cruelty free everlasting butterfly.
Painted as part of a triptych on reclaimed pine board. These pieces sit really well together but also stand alone nicely.
I love the framed specimens. If I am ever in a big city and make it to the museum you will find me going through everyone of the specimen drawers. Exited to see the next collection with each pull of the handle. So much variety and zero chance of being crawled on!
That is where the seed for this project was planted. Though I didn’t know it yet all the photos I took of butterflies, beetles and moths became the reference material for my butterfly pieces this year.
Deconstructing and reconstructing the symmetry of these marvels of nature was at first like going cross eyed but became a sort of meditative practice.
Painted on ply board. Encased in resin.
Please keep in mind that some of the photos are from before the resin layer.
Size 15cm x 31.5 cm × 2.5 cm
This was so fun to make, I started this project with my daughter. priming the boards with a protective layer and then a base colour that I scratched out the shape of the beetles. This way of sketching made a skeletal framework to layer up the shells and led to a texture to work up from. I wanted them to keep their child like feeling simple and fun. The blades of grass were a joy to paint and I couldn’t leave them alone I kept wanting to come back and play.
I hope this comes across in the final pieces and they bring a sense of joy and wonder to your home if you choose them. As they have to mine in the making!
Flora
Captured at golden hour as the sunset over fields of flowers at the carnival of flowers. I took 100s of photos and was in complete awe of the beauty. My eyes actually hurt from being so wide open all day.
I love this piece and will be sad to see it go but happy to brighten someone’s home.
49 cm square painting alone.
51 cm square with frame
Blue blooms are just magic to me. These butterfly like petals all hovering together in a pom pom like structure are a joy and challenge to paint.
Bring a little outside inside with this everlasting bloom.
30 cm x 40 cm
I love tulips they take me back to magic spring time adventures in the blue mountains. When the bulbs spring out of frozen earth.
The photo that inspired this piece was taken at the festival of flowers in Toowoomba where my eyes were so wide they hurt from consuming so much beauty. I wanted to capture some of that in this.
Honouring beauty.
I grew up in colder climates with daffodils, azaleas, rhododendrons and roses. The icy winter breaking open into bright tender juicy spring blooms felt like magic.
These transition times are fleeting as are the blooms. That all at once spring into existence then wilt and wither just as swiftly. To meticulously immortalise that moment in a meditative layering of shapes, one hundred hues of green and thousands of layered brushstrokes.
A window to the gardens of memory.
Pansys have always felt like happy little flowers to me. They look like they have just sprung up with a smile on their little faces. Maybe its tied to Alices adventures in wonderland, the magic of childhood spent looking at a micro world getting so low to the ground. Looking up through the grass and blooms.
This piece is part of my grandmas flowers series. Full of nostalgia of simpler times wandering through the garden with time and possibility stretching out before me. That feeling of joy when spotting a bloom has carried with me into adulthood.
I hope this piece lands in a home to serve as a window into the garden. A reminder to stop and spot the magic in nature both cultivated and wild.
Created from a reference of my garden this piece was painted in acrylic and is 25 cm x 20 cm on canvas.
Bright saturated colour and a painterly feel.
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