This portrait of Olive Pink (Thanks to Maxine Hawker) sitting on Nurse Hill brought my whole exhibition together. Buffel Busting was a solo exhibition about the efforts of local landcare groups and individuals making positive impacts on the environment. Olive Pink was an extraordinary role model for the generation today and I was lucky enough to find a model that captured her spirit and values. Here she sits at her favourite spot, sketching the native species she cares and loves for.

Last painting of 2018! This will be the first painting and acting as a warm up to my next project starting February 2019. It focuses on an area where Olive Pink Botanical Gardens and Alice Landcare have maintained to keep out Buffel grass and other introduced/invasive species. These lovely small billy buttons appeared amidst all the cleared Buffel.

This study is the fourth and final painting of Henry’s Garden. I’ super happy that 4 works have come from it but also sad to move on because they were a lot of fun!

Rather than focusing on the species of shrub, I tried to emphasise on the dirt and debris in the foreground. I found the emptiness of the area to have a certain nostalgic energy, as if you were walking through the hills and stumbled across this cleared space laid out just for you.

Cassia growth’ is referring to the native species’ growth after the area surrounding it had been cleared of Buffel grass by friend, lecturer and well known artist Henry Smith. The place is called Henry’s Garden and is located in the Undoolya Hills in Alice Springs. After all the Buffel grass had been cleared, all of these beautiful native species started to emerge. It is just a breathtaking place to walk through. In the morning this place fills with light and that’s where I took the photos and sketched from.

Overlooking Spencer Valley are a series of hills that are beloved by mountain bikers, hikers and environmentalists. I came across this maintained area along a track and knew it was a place I needed to paint. In front of a Witchetty bush and a Dead Finish lay a gully someone had dug up and filled with Buffel. Most of the area had been cleared of the weed and it had started to deteriorate in the gully. This is a fair walk from the road and a huge effort, making me quite proud of this unknown hero with a mattock!

The change of blue tones in the sky symbolize the different species that stand before it.

Acrylic on Canvas
340mm x 420mm

Ainslie Roberts created some of the most vibrant, imaginative and descriptive paintings I have ever encountered. I painted this intense and emotional scene in response to his work ‘The Voice of Nature’. I wanted to use a burning red to symbolise blood and the pain that introduced species can cause the land.

‘Young Witchetty’ was the third study from Henry’s Garden where I wanted to make a strong contrast between the subject, the foreground and the sky. In a few years when this small tree has grown quite a bit, i’ll go back and do a comparison painting. The Acacia Kempeana or Witchetty bush has tasty treats hidden below them that can be extracted and eaten, otherwise known as Witchetty Grubs. :)

Bushfires will always occur due to natural causes. However, they do play an instrumental part in the regeneration of native flora. With this is mind, it’s still difficult to look at the landscape knowing that the natural process has been altered by the introduction of Buffel grass. The weed burns at a much higher temperature than most species in Australia, allowing its destructiveness to ravage the landscape.

My fiancée and I came across this area on the side of the road following the widespread fires this January. It had me thinking that without the Buffel creating a fiery trail between all the native species, there would have been enough space between the shrubs and trees to restrict the fires movement.