Song Of The Daisies

If you haven’t walked by a paddock full of daisies dancing in the wind and stopped to listen to their delightful and cheery song, you haven’t quite lived! Even when we call them weeds, they still sing out as we rush past.

This artwork brings me back to my constant love of warm smiling daisies and rich, textured gold. To my mind, there’s not much that’s sweeter.

The painting is layered over an undercoat of glossy black and Indian red, onto which I have painted the word JOY to bring extra sparkle and joy to any room. This underpainted word remains hidden but always there, offering a deliberate and secret resonance to the finished work.

The piece has been created using woodblock and brushwork. Warm white splashes are brushed onto a textured golden background, which in turns sits on a variety of darker colours from warm Indian red to Storm blue. The whole is then covered with woodblock smears of colour which randomly settle and seem to move the image slightly, giving the piece its ‘antique’ feel within a limited colour palette.

Song of the Daisies delights with its sense of gentle movement and radiance, with an easy colour combination bringing freshness and clarity. The inspiration for this piece is simply happiness - the type that’s found when you smile back at the daisies on a hillside as you rush past. Just because it’s your job!

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Liz’s artworks are a celebration of life. An acclaimed visual artist and author, she derives great joy from getting stuff out of her head and onto the blank canvas! Liz works with colour, light, layering, texture and curiosity to produce works that feel fresh and spontaneous.

Dreamy watercolour landscapes, bold acrylic florals, quirky animals, evocative pen and wash, collage... Liz uses a variety of media and although most comfortable creating in solitude, she also enjoys working collaboratively to bring projects to their best place.

Young Adult books include ‘Keep Your Hair On!’ (Black Dog Books, Piccadilly Press UK) and ‘The Grief Book – Strategies for Young People’ CBCA honour list (BDB, Walker, revised 2021). An exhibiting artist with numerous prizes and an MA in Creative Writing, her recent Picture Book ‘Mac the Dog Man’ won Bookvana’s US non-fiction award.

Liz's artwork is featured on cards, booklets, calendars, magazines, journals, CD covers, calendars. Teaching includes Queen’s Trust Award for teens with cancer and Community/Family workshops for Butterfly Art Studio.

Artwork acquisitions in corporate and private collections across Australia and internationally.

Artist Statement:

I have been given many gifts in this lifetime
including the proverbial pot of gold – a
second chance at life.

My artworks are the embodiment of all that
comes with this: Hope, Joy, Discovery,
Courage, Gratitude, Urgency…. My
paintings emerge from a desire to capture
the sparkle – Life essence or Light – which
is inherent in all life.

To pick up a paintbrush is to take a journey.
The excitement is palpable and I love the
delicious anticipation of standing in front of
a blank page or canvas. The explosions
of colour and the freedom of creation.
Messy globules of paint ricocheting across
the paper. A moment somewhere. Space
and time collide. Colour and light merge.

Painting sustains and nourishes me. it’s a
gentle reminder to Live in Each Moment.
liz vercoe