Sketching Banksias into life

Banksias are a favourite native plant amongst many Australian artists.  Their amazing shapes, colours and textures inspires a lot of obsessional art making!

As well as discovering Banksias in the bushlands where I walk and ride, I grow them in my garden.  I love how their sculptural forms rise majestically above the other plants.  They command the attention of the various honeyeaters as well as the human-sort of visitors to my garden.

Banksia flowering on one of my walks.

The lines of yellow 
remind me of the segments of an orange.

And when the colourful show is over,
the pods remain.

One of my interpretations.  This is a snapshot from a concertina
artist book on Parchment paper, the watercolours I used on the paper
shine brightly like the banksias in flower.

Another Banksia artist book, this time on Kraft paper
using muted colours in my favourite combination
of blue and brown.

Another artist book, this time I played
with more intense colours,
and brought out some textures with
waxy pencils.  This one is also
on kraft paper.

Nature Journaling and Writing

Over the past few weeks, I've been working with Brisbane City Council to help facilitate a series of nature journaling workshops.

It seems that nature journaling has become more popular as we try to reconnect more directly with the natural world around us.  This is very promising as its introducing a wide range of people and children to a world they usually only glance at as they walk through forest and parks.

I don't regard myself as a 'nature journaler'.  I think sometimes the technique gets a bit too caught up in layout and design.  I'm more of a sketchy scratcher -  my sketchbook is full of odds and ends of pencil, pen, watercolour and writing, some pages half-done, some abandoned, some loved to death.

During the workshops, I really enjoyed sharing my love of art and the natural world with others and being able to give each person a way of entering into the world of observation, curiousity and 'slow' journaling.  My emphasis was on using writing (for example, asking questions, recording sensory experiences, lists, or weather observations) and not being concerned with the 'right' way to do it, just record your own story, your own experience of this place, this eco-system, this plant.

By the way, I gained some of my skills via the free 6-week online Natural History Illustration course - click HERE for more information.

And now for a few photos, including a few from my sketchbook.  I hope that you might get out into nature soon with your sketchbook and pencil.  Take a moment or two to give the natural world your full attention.  The attention it deserves.

Nature Journaling at Boondall Wetlands

Some pages from my sketchbook

Where Arts meets Science - Part 4

Continuing on from my previous post.....


Day 4 of the Art-science BioBlitz at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve

The Sunday dawned without a cloud in the sky, absolutely gorgeous!

My tree for this final day of the BioBlitz was Tree 3 - 'Mook Mook', Jinibara language for 'Ghost Tree'.

It was very busy around the base of the tree, as it was one of the trees setup for climbing that day.  To get close to the tree, I had to wear a hard hat and keep away from all the noise and activity.   This forced me to look closer at the soil and around the roots, with my drawings focussing on the beautiful fungi sprouting from the strangler fig roots.

The rest of the morning was spent back at BioBlitz HQ working with the other artists.  We were all a bit frantic at this stage, trying to get as much done as possible before it was 'brushes down!' and time to go for the closing ceremony.

We all had a fabulous time, it was a highlight to work with both scientists and like-minded artists.  I feel like I've established some new connections that will enhance my art practice and help me to spread the word about forest conservation and the importance of retaining biodiversity.

The 5 visual diaries were handed over to the Reserve staff, to be scanned and documented, and then put on show at the Reserve until 25 August.

Wearing a hard hat whilst sketching at the base of
Mook Mook,  something different!

Beautiful fungi, captured on toned paper with
pencil

My watercolour kit, wet and muddy and well used

The art team at work at BioBlitz HQ - me, Kim, Jono, Jason and Leisa
(left to right around the table).  Paula was out in the forest at the time
this photo was taken.

At the closing ceremony, still working on our diaries!

My favourite drawing from the 4 days of BioBlitz -
the Bat Fly!  AMAZING!

Where Art meets Science - Part 2

Continuing on from my previous post.....


Day 2 of the Art-science BioBlitz at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve

Fortunately, the rain eased overnight and was just showery, so we all were able to get out into the forest more and work with the trees.

My tree for Day 2 was Dala (tree 4).  Dala is the Jinibura name for Staghorn, and the tree certainly had quite a few epiphytes that could be seen from the ground.

I spent the morning drawing at the base of the tree.  I also watched Ann Moran and her team doing a plant survey, identifying and counting the plants around the dripline of the tree to establish what sort of species germinate and live there which also reveals bird movements (given their role in spreading seed).

After lunch, it was my turn to 'go up a tree'.   I had the awesome privilege of being hauled up Tree 3 (Mook Mook), the Ghost Tree.  I'm not fond of heights and had some reservations as I went up, but it was so amazing I was quickly distracted from the fact I was dangling at over 40metres up.  Plus I knew I was in the very capable hands of the tree climbers so I could literally sit and relax in my harness.  I took lots of photos but spent most of my 20 minutes up there enjoying the view.

Looking the part....

Hanging on, though I'm actually sitting in a fork of the tree

a Bird's Nest fern halfway up, I stopped for a good look

I couldn't actually see the ground as it was hidden by the canopy
of the rest of the forest, so that made it really easy to ignore how high up I was.

My climbing chaperone Matt climbed up further to get this wonderful photo,
almost makes me giddy looking at it!

Next Blog Post:  Day 3 of the BioBlitz

Where Art meets Science - Part 1

How long has it been since you were up a tree?  I mean, like REALLY up a tree.  Recently I had the privilege to sit in the canopy of a 48metre strangler fig in the middle of a rainforest.....

It was all part of an art-science BioBlitz at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve, which is an island of rainforest in the mountains in the Sunshine Coast hinterland (an hour from my home).  Ok, so they really aren't mountains like some cities have, but in flat coastal Queensland they're pretty impressive.

I was selected to be one of six artists-in-residence for the BioBlitz, held over 4 days.  Five huge Stranger Figs were chosen as our focus of the project.  We worked alongside tree climbers, scientists and lots of like-minded volunteers - a wonderful opportunity for collaboration and 'to look over the shoulder' at science methodologies and discoveries.

My fellow artists and I had a job to do though - each fig had a blank visual diary assigned to it, and our job as artists was to respond creatively in each book to the tree, its surrounds, its biodiversity, and the activity of the BioBlitz.

I've got so much to share with you, I'm going to blog about it in several posts.  I wasn't able to blog during the BioBlitz as I was busy focusing on the job at hand, and enjoying the amazing forest!

Day 1 

On the first day, it rained and rained and rained.  Wonderful because we seriously needed the rain and the fungi scientists were ecstatic.  Not so wonderful as the BioBlitz got off to a slow start due to safety issues. 

I managed to escape into the forest in the afternoon.  My first tree was BarrBarr (Tree 2).   This was a tricky one, involving a log crossing over creek, then through the tangle of forest for 20 metres.  I spent a rewarding couple of hours in the rain, sketching at the base of the tree, before heading back to BioBlitz HQ to use my mini gelli plate to work in my visual diary.

The BioBlitz team

Standing in the rain, checking out the trees on
the first morning.
Leeches were an issue, they kept dropping
from the trees above us!

Misty in the rainforest.  Its the first time I've
walked through a rainforest in the rain - beautiful!
(except for the leeches)

Selfie with BarrBarr

Drawings, watercolour and gelli prints inspired by
looking through a microscope at mosses

Detail

A double page spread in the visual diary
using leaves from BarrBarr - gelli prints and drawings

Next Blog post:  Days 2 & 3 of the BioBlitz

Riding, camping and sketching

I love it when I can incorporate my art practice into my travels, I feel like I'm capturing a moment of the new place I'm in.

Over the past few months, my partner Craig and I have been doing short bike rides with overnight camping in the local D'Aguilar National Park, within an hour of my home.  Its a no-fuss low-cost excuse to indulge our love of camping.

As the campsite isn't accessible by motor vehicles, its peaceful, quiet and we get it all to ourselves.  Our most recent excursion was to the Lightline Road Camp, a beautiful spot in the middle of the forest.  It had great facilities though no toilet or shower, which I'm OK to give up for one night.  I love the extensive local birdlife, with a melody of whip birds, bell birds and wrens surrounding the camp.

As this is a very lightweight camp (Craig carries most of the gear in his bike trailer), I have to pare down my art supplies to the very basic - a couple of pens/pencils and some paper.  But its all I need. I think its distracting to have too many art supplies when I only have an hour or two of light to work in.  Keeping it simple makes me focus on just doing something rather than deciding what materials to use.

The camp with Craig's bike and trailer in the foreground.
I carry our food in a backpack, so I get the easy job!

My sketching kit,  - 1 pen, 2 pencils, and two pieces of cardboard
secured with rubber bands holding a few sheets of toned paper.
I carried it in my backpack.

The contents of my sketching kit and some leaves,
and also the necessary glasses to help me see what
I'm doing!

Sketching quietly, listening to the birdsong
and the wind rustling through the canopy of trees.

A leaf and the subsequent drawing.
That's all I had time to do before I lost the light.
Not a masterpiece but fun to do - worth taking my kit for.

Relaxing by the fire before dinner.
Heaven!