Cardwell Lillies

Each year, around Christmas time, the Cardwell lilies bloom after the first wet season rains. First, the lilies emerge, then the shimmering bright green leaves. The leaves persist for months after the flowers die, then nothing until the next year. We see in this painting, native Wet Tropics World Heritage Area flora softly framing the man-made waterfall that flows into the fauna friendly pond. The pond attracts musky rat-kangaroos, red-necked crakes, buff-breasted paradise kingfishers (amongst numerous other species of birds), snakes and goannas.

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Pam Schultz is an award-winning representational fine artist. Her paintings are in the collection of national and international patrons. “My appreciation of art began at home in Melbourne, where I was fascinated by my grandmother’s oil paintings hanging on the walls. I started drawing earnestly around eight years old. I excelled at art in school and by grade 12, I was enrolled in a Diploma of Art at Caufield Institute of Technology (now Monash University). My first artistic job was a textile artist at a clothing factory in Melbourne. I designed textile patterns and took the illustrations overseas to England where I was based for three years. I travelled around Europe, West Asia and America visiting art galleries, stately homes and cathedrals. In London, I worked for an animation studio where I created illustrations for commercials. Back in Australia, I became enthralled by the tropical landscapes in North Queensland and became involved in lobbying for their protection through my art. Influenced by anthropology studies at university, I began to paint portraits in 2003. Then I began to choose people who were conservation ecologists as this theme suited my passion as one who aimed for the same goal. I worked in the field of natural resource management following the achievement of a PhD in Environmental Science. Amongst other recent commendations, I won first prize in 2019 for “The Ethnobotonist” in the competition Artists of the North in Cairns. In 2020, I received a high commendation for “Grasswren Country Laid Down” at the Cairns Regional Gallery.”