Wattle Bird with Casuarina and Coastal Banksia

For this painting I have been furthering my exploration of mark making and really enjoying the qualities of my materials. I work in gouache on very thick textured paper, varying the paint consistency from thick and opaque to a watery wash that bleeds so beautifully into the paper and lets me achieve those lovely random watermarks.

When I began painting birds and plants a few years ago, my work was quite flat and graphic, almost screen print - like, and painted onto crisp white backgrounds. As my painting practice evolves, I am beginning to include more layering and detail, and exploring the use of Australian landscapes in my work.

This work is the second painting of a similar theme and same size, they would work well as a pair hung together.

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I’ve been making art for most of my life, though the path here hasn’t been completely straightforward. What was meant to be a one-year trip from the UK to Sydney in 1994 somehow turned into a permanent move, and Australia has felt like home ever since.
A lot of my work begins outdoors; walking, noticing plants growing through fences, strange colour combinations in nature, or bringing home flowers and cuttings to paint in the studio. Painting has always been a way for me to slow down and pay attention. It’s where I feel most myself.
Before returning to painting full-time in 2015, I worked across surface pattern design, printmaking and graphic design, and those influences still shape the way I paint today; through colour, rhythm, line and composition. I’m also deeply inspired by the simplicity and spontaneity of Chinese and Japanese ink painting, calligraphy and woodblock prints, though my work has gradually evolved into something much looser and more contemporary over time.
Since returning to full-time practice, my work has been exhibited in solo and group shows across Australia and selected as a finalist in prizes including the Calleen Art Award, Lethbridge Prize, Bluethumb Art Prize and the National Contemporary Watercolour Prize. My paintings and prints have also been licensed onto homewares and collected internationally.
I still feel genuinely grateful that I get to spend my days painting, and I hope that sense of joy, calm and curiosity finds its way into the work itself.