Oil on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.

Signed on the front.

This artwork comes with an external frame

This painting of the trunk of a very large and mature paper mulberry tree in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens in South Australia shows – a tree with distinctive and impressive bark, but also flowers and heavy fruit. The paper mulberry was used by ancient Austronesians to make barkcloth – and often became the ‘canvas’ for decorated paintings, so it is fitting that this portrait is reminiscent of both Eastern and Islander art. Even many of the animals the bark patterns hint at seem to be animals that accompanied the Austronesians as they expanded from island to island in the Pacific. A very fluid, dynamic, energetic painting , reflecting the swirling bark patterns of the tree’s trunk, and painted in optimistic uplifting colours. Ready to hang.