'Australiana' 2024
 
Dip-pen drawing in eucalyptus-gall ink. Hand-made watercolours and gouache, traditional recipes and techniques using historically accurate, genuine earth pigments sourced exclusively from Australia.
Features some very rare Australian ochre pigments.
Hand-applied fine Dutch gold leaf (copper:zinc:aluminium) in the traditional method.
Italian, eco-certified, archival, artist quality, animal free paper
Framed in Tasmanian Oak Natural Timber
 
A mix of our beautiful, unique Australian native flowers in warm orange, bright yellow and eucalyptus green colours. Every pigment used in this painting is from a genuine ochre stone, sourced from special locations all over Australia. This is beautiful natural earth at its finest and the colours are so pure and vibrant. These are the pigments once used before industrial 'copies' were invented, going back to a time when small amounts of hand-sourced colours were cherished and precious. This art is made in celebration of nature and as such only uses carefully selected historically accurate, natural ingredients to be extra kind to the planet.
 
This painting is one of the 'Abundance' series. Ochre is a coloured rock, a pigment used by painter throughout human art history from pre-antiquity to now. Thousands of years old, ochre comes from deep in the earth and is different in character depending on the place of origin. In this work, I have used genuine natural tree gum from African acacia trees, known as gum arabica which has been used for centuries as a binding medium for traditional watercolours and gouache. My research continues to find an Australian alternative that is equally clear and strong. The paint is naturally optimised to showcase the nuances in the pigments as it dries to a clear crystalline form and allows the colours to be vibrant and pure.
 
In the spirit of 'all is connected', these ochres are sourced from layers of earth below the surface of different landscapes, the similarity and beauty of the materials is a connection, a meeting point laid out in this artwork, symbolic of love, protection and our good fortune to live with such beauty in our flora and fauna.