As a child a treasure hunt always led to excited and willing participants, usually rewarded for their often frenzied efforts.
I was fortunate to begin my rather optimistic treasure hunt some twenty years ago, to find every Australian Banksia. This began as a series of adventures that were to last for many years. Continue reading ›
I am always apprehensive about starting a new painting. Every banksia is different, the flowers, the leaves, the cones and even the stems vary considerably. It is this great variability of the plant that makes each painting an individual and interesting challenge. For most of my work I use small acrylic script brushes 20/0, 10/0 through to 00, as most of my work is dry brush painting, it’s only on the larger leaves that I use a wash, perhaps with a #2 brush.
Pencils must be one of the simplest tools ever made. The slate and pencil, quickly replaced by the wooden lead pencil, with graphite soon replacing lead. There are many types of coloured pencils and I have seen beautiful botanical work using watercolour pencils.
I have been asked many times why I paint Banksias. When I ruin a near finished painting, after spending many hours of work, I often ask myself the same question!
