Habitat 1, wattle bird

This is a celebration of the life and layers in the scrappy understorey of a sapling forest. The inspiration was taken in Spring with the wattles in bloom, creating a joyful, sweet softness with their little tufts. A wattle bird flew in and perched itself momentarily on the trunk, providing a perfect snapshot of the activity in this wonderfully messy, delicate part of the landscape.

The underpainting is sienna and crimson with violet for the darkest darks, making for a simple split complementary palette of red-green and purple-yellow. For renovators, note the predominant green is Dulux Sea Radish, from a sample pot.

The greens are done using up sample pots from a recent renovation, being Dulux Holly Bush for the darker verdant green and Dulux Sea Radish for the softer grey-green of the wattle foliage.

The piece is on triple-primed Italian linen, unstretched. There is ample spare material around the edges to accommodate any frame style you wish.

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From my studio in Canberra, Australia I work to create ethereal abstract nature paintings that echo that feeling of ease and wellness that twinkles through you when you stop in a pocket of forest or under a tree, stepping into Earth’s embrace. I would love to show you around my studio in person. Meantime, please enjoy exploring this virtual shop, zoom in, peer close, and reach out with any questions.

In the tangle of the forest understorey, the connectivity of all things is most apparent to me. The sense of oneness and gentle alive-ness leads me to create layers of subtle, organic marks that invite the viewer in, like we lean in to listen when someone speaks softly. Paint is added or removed, responding to the moment; some things from life, some imagined, as though co-creating, until this pocket of wilderness is formed enough to hold us. Final flecks of colour are allowed to skip across the surface like sunlight on leaf, web or tiny wing. I’m exploring the concept of Nature as divinity, accessed by grounding in the wild-grown Earth that is the ancestral home for our species. The result, I hope, is artwork with a sense of the ethereal; that is somehow both divine-uplift and soft-landing – like opening the door to home.

Visit my website for my full range including small works, and to join my Collectors List for early access to new work.

As featured on Space Invaders home renovations by channel 9 (season 6, episode 6), April 2026.