From Paddock to Mountain - Artist In Residence - Part 2

For two weeks I'm artist in residence at the Nancy Fairfax AIR Studio at the Tweed Regional Gallery in Northern New South Wales (Australia).

My goal for this residency was to work on a rainforest theme.  Earlier this year, I was one of the artists involved in an arts/science BioBlitz at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve (see this post).  Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve comprises 55 hectares of subtropical rainforest overlooking the Glass House Mountains in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Rainforest areas extend through several ranges and National Parks from Queensland down to northern New South Wales.  Many insect and bird species found in Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve are also native to the rainforests close to Murwillumbah where my AIR Studio is located.

And so my plan was to walk through some national parks, observe the rainforest ecology, and stay cool.   Well, that hasn't quite worked out.   Currently, all national parks in northern NSW (and therefore natural rainforest areas) are closed due to the horrendous bushfires being experienced in NSW and Qld.  And due to the hot weather, they will be closed for a while.....so onto Plan B.

I found some small pockets of rainforest along the road verges, which enabled me to collect some leaves.  And I had very kindly (and fortuitously as it turns out) been given some rainforest leaves from the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve parkland.  So onwards and upwards, I got printing.

Printing with 'Thumper' - yay!  My happy place.

Inking up a litho plate.  The studio space is great,
with plenty of room for me to spread out.
Wish I had this set up at home!

A leaf mandala in progress, using rainforest leaves.
I've been looking at mandala iconology as a way
of expressing the connectivity of the natural world.

My next post will look closer at some of my works-in-progress and ideas as they develop.