NATURALISED SERIES 2026 (in progress)
‘The trees are wearing red flags’
120x90cm ground earth pigment, charcoal and copper verdigris on linen. Shortlisted for the Fleurieu Art Prize 2026.
The native box mistletoe is normally considered a ‘hemi-parasite’ - attaching itself to eucalyptus and sequestering water and nutrients. Large trees can usually support several mistletoe, which provide food for birds and small marsupials. However, mistletoe infestations can kill trees when they are already weakened due to stress, drought or disease. In response to a changing climate, more frequent drought events and reduced soil health, box mistletoe are now killing large gum trees on a mass scale in south eastern parts of Australia - indicating a loss of resilience in these decades old trees, and signalling an alarming warning - the natural systems are breaking down.
This misteltoe laden eucalypt is at our farm, and I have made this painting using earth pigments collected from the property. The painting tells the story of our changing landscape both in composition, and in materiality - as I observe the effects of climate change in real time living on the land as a farmer and an artist.
Available $4200. Email to enquire.
‘They tried to stitch the landscape back together’
100x80cm. Ground earth pigment, charcoal and copper verdigris on canvas. Selected for Heysen Prize for Landscape 2026.
When the early German settlers first arrived in Gippsland they believed the presence of towering Strzelecki gums indicated the soil was abundantly fertile and set about clearing the land for agriculture. In an effort to combat the terrible resulting erosion - they did what had worked in Europe; and stabilized crumbling riverbanks and hillsides with imported blackberry canes. Unfortunately they were naive to the fact that without a heavy European snow season to limit their growth, their fast growing untameable thorns would quickly overgrow the landscape and become the major environmental problem we are still facing today.
‘Finite’
80x30cm. Ground earth pigment, charcoal copper verdigris in binders on canvas, weather worn branch. Iron oxide stained frame. Shortlisted for the Corner Store Gallery Regional Art Prize 2026.
A short drive into the hills behind our little township you find yourself deep in the Strzelecki rainforest. A haven for birdlife, wallabies and wombats, the treefern gullies remind us of a time when the Gippsland landscape looked vastly different, and what we stand to lose in the face of a changing climate.
Available $1900. Email to enquire.
“Naturalised, Xanthoria parietina (sunburst maritime lichen)”
120x90cm. Ground earth, charcoal, copper verdigris and acrylic on canvas.
As well as many well known introduced weed species- sunburst maritime lichen arrived aboard colonial timbers in the 1800s. The spread of agriculture around the world can be traced by studying the taxonomy of Xanthoria parietina which is now naturalised in Australia, and often celebrated for its beauty, growing readily on rocks, trees and piers around Tasmania and Victoria, with many failing to realise it is non-native.
In this painting materiality has been used to designate the environmental status of plants, with native bush painted in natural pigments sourced from the local landscape, and the introduced lichen painted in synthetic polymer (acrylic) paint.
Available. $4200. Email to enquire.