Banksias and Protea in Green Jug

This small still life was inspired by a loose arrangement of sculptural native flowers in a simple green jug. I was drawn to the contrast between the soft, muted colour of the vessel and the stronger pinks, oranges and earthy greens of the flowers.

I wanted to keep the painting fresh and immediate, using visible brushwork and layered colour rather than describing every detail. The simple background and warm timber surface allow the shapes of the flowers and jug to remain the focus.

Painted in acrylic on a timber panel, the natural texture of the surface remains subtly visible beneath the paint and contributes to the handmade quality of the work.

With its warm, earthy palette and quiet still-life subject, this piece would bring colour and character to a kitchen, living space, bedroom or smaller wall grouping.

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Lucy Watts is a Melbourne-based artist and printmaker working across acrylic painting and linocut. In 2022 she established Yuile Street Studio and began focusing on her art practice full time.

In 2026, Lucy presented her solo exhibition, Illuminated Stillness, at Town Hall Gallery, Boroondara Arts. The exhibition brought together paintings and linocut prints inspired by the leadlight windows of her home and the shifting patterns of light they cast across everyday objects and domestic scenes.

Lucy’s paintings are often intimate still lifes featuring flowers, vessels, bottles and familiar objects. She is drawn to the way light, colour and texture can transform an ordinary arrangement, and her paintings have become increasingly loose and gestural in response to these fleeting observations.

Alongside painting, Lucy creates original linocut prints using an etching press. Her printmaking ranges from bold single-colour works to larger reduction and multi-plate prints, with an emphasis on strong composition, shape and contrast.

Her subject matter is drawn largely from everyday life: interiors, gardens, landscapes, people and animals. Across both painting and printmaking, she is interested in noticing and recording moments that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

Lucy has received awards for her printmaking, exhibited in selected group exhibitions and a solo exhibition, and her work is held in private collections across Australia.