Understory, part one: the boulder face
Watercolour on paper, 2023
46 cm x 61 cm
Understory, part two: the cliff below the fig tree
Watercolour on paper, 2023
61 cm x 46cm
Understory, part three: the gully wall
Watercolour on paper, 2023
61 cm x 46cm
Understory, part four: the fallen branch
Watercolour on paper, 2023
61 cm x 46cm
Living Slowly, Dying Fast
Coloured pencil on watercolour paper, 2023
39 cm x 54 cm
This piece was made for the Tree Veneration Society exhibition, Arboreal Narratives 2023: In Conversation, held at the Woollahra Gallery. It focusses on a small patch of heath near Pine Lake in the Tasmanian highlands, reflecting the rich diversity and interdependence of plants and animals this environment supports.
Tasmania’s endemic Pencil Pine, Athrotaxis cupressoides, is one of the longest-lived trees in the world, some over 1300 years old. It grows slowly, taking 50 years to reach 1 metre in height.
150 million years ago Athrotaxis, an ancient Gondwanan genus, was widespread. The Pencil Pine is one of two surviving species, both found only in Tasmania’s highlands. It is the sole food source of the Pencil Pine moth, Dirce aesiodora. Highly susceptible to bush fires, tree numbers have declined markedly since European colonisation. Around 40% of pencil pine rainforest has been destroyed by fire and will never regenerate. Changing climate affects growing conditions and its reproductive pattern, and the introduced fungus Phytophthora poses another threat to its survival.
Infraworld one
Watercolour on paper, 2023
61 cm x 46cm
Infraworld two
Watercolour on paper, 2023
61 cm x 46cm
Oasis
Acrylic on Canvas, 2022
Oasis was exhibited in the “Save Oxford Falls” exhibition at Manly Gallery, protesting a plan to develop a section of uncleared bushland in the Oxford Falls area for a housing development.
Remnants of bushland in our suburbs are a precious refuge for native flora and animals. They are to be treasured, and protected from greedy, shortsighted development.
Cabbage Tree Palms, Warriewood Wetlands
Acrylic on canvas, 2023
Miniatures
The Jungle Next Door
Coloured pencil on watercolour paper, 2023
10 cm x 10 cm
The Gully
Coloured pencil on watercolour paper, 2023
10 cm x 10 cm