Seeded Eucalyptus in Turquoise Glass Vase

Every now and then when I feel like flexing my drawing muscle, I will pop into my local florist and grab some native flowers to paint. These came with a bunch of Proteas, kind of as florist filler I guess, but they are so interesting in their own right that I decided they deserved an entire painting dedicated to them.

I like the simplicity of the pared back colour palette of grey/greens and turquoise sitting within the negative space.

For my still life flowers I work 'Alla Prima' which means the work is created in one go. (The very nature of my materials means that there is little room for error anyway, so you are kind of forced into doing it that way). But I actually like the thrill of painting directly onto the paper without pencilling out where I'm going first.

It's a gamble; sometimes this works beautifully and some days I waste lots of paint, paper and valuable time on 'duds' that just end up in the bin. However, I do feel strongly that something as fleetingly beautiful as fresh flowers deserves a bold, quick approach, and I'm happy to sacrifice a few duds if needed in order to get the perfect painted drawing.

For the record, this painting was the first and only 'take'. It was a good day ;)

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Floriosa is the botanical painting practice of Australian artist Sally Browne.
I've been making art for as long as I can remember. What was meant to be a one-year trip from the UK to Sydney in 1994 somehow became a permanent move, and Australia has been home ever since.
Much of my work begins outdoors. I love wandering through suburban streets noticing flowering trees, plants spilling over fences, unexpected colour combinations and the small details that most of us walk straight past. I often come home with armfuls of flowers, seedpods and odd little cuttings that eventually find their way into my paintings.

Although my work begins with observation, it rarely stays there. A vase of flowers, a flowering gum or a bird perched in the garden might provide the starting point, but colour, memory and imagination soon take over. I'm less interested in painting a particular flower than in capturing the feeling of being surrounded by nature.

Before becoming a full-time artist in 2015, I worked in graphic design, surface pattern and printmaking, experiences that continue to influence my love of colour, rhythm and composition. I'm also inspired by the simplicity and spontaneity of Chinese and Japanese ink painting, though over the years my own work has evolved into a looser, more contemporary style.

Alongside Floriosa, I maintain a contemporary fine art practice under my own name, exhibiting regularly throughout Australia. Over the past decade I've been fortunate to place hundreds of original paintings into private collections both here and overseas. These days, if I'm not in the studio, there's a good chance I'm wandering around Sydney with secateurs in my bag, bringing home flowers, seedpods and whatever else catches my eye.