NatureArt Lab Blog

David Reynolds is a botanical artist from Melbourne who teaches in Canberra and Brisbane with NatureArt Lab.In this article talks about his art practice and the importance of getting to know your subject. He also asked the question about botanical art and gender. Hopefully more men will join this creative pursuit and enjoy the productive meditation the art of botanical painting provides. 

Australia boasts a rich and diverse range of flora, and one of the largest groups that stands out is the Eucalyptus genus, consisting of over 800 species spread across three genera: Angophora, Corymbia, and Eucalyptus. These native plants are not only iconic but also play a vital role in Australia's natural environment, earning recognition worldwide. With their various shapes and sizes, the workshop aimed to explore the captivating forms and colours of eucalypts, with a particular emphasis on species with rounded leaves, such as Eucalyptus kruseana, E. cinerea, E. pulverulenta, and E. orbifolia.

Nicole Crosswell is a practising visual artist, arts facilitator, and the scientific illustrator for The Queensland Herbarium at Mt. Coot-tha Botanical Gardens. Her arts practice embodies the phrase ‘to draw’; from contemporary manipulation of physical thread and line through to traditional methods of drawing and mark making. In both her professional and personal life is Nicole’s passion for the natural world and its dynamic evolution.

Lesley Wallington is a professional, award-winning artist and tutor with more than 30 years’ teaching experience. Her journey in water based media, through studies at the ANU School of Art has resulted in innovative approaches to her painting and competency across a range of mediums. With a background in Biology, Ecology and Mathematics Lesley brings together in her work, a love of art, science and nature.

Dr Anna Voysekhovich is an award-winning botanical artist and scientific illustrator based in Sydney. Her illustration of this beautiful Albany Pitcher Plant recently won the Best in Show at the BASA, and here is her story about this threatened plant species from Western Australia!

Hive Studios is an exciting new arts space founded by local artists Lena Tisdall and Sandra Pearce, and is located in Banyo in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.  The Hive Studio space houses Sandra’s printmaking and papermaking studio Art from the Urban Wilderness, and is also open to the community and local artists to use for art workshops, studio hire and community events.  

An amazing testament to how an art school’s philosophy of engaging nature through art drives citizen science and custodianship of our environment.

It all started with a visit to Mulligans Flat as the temperature drifted gently towards 40 degrees C and the threat of bushfires simmered in the background. As a group we were a mix of both experienced artists and enthusiastic, but relative beginners. We were out there on this improbably hot day looking for botanical specimens to paint and preserve as part of one of NatureArt Lab’s many and varied workshops. The 'Collecting herbaria specimens and botanical art' workshop with Mali Moir provided students with a series of challenges which were both demanding but intensely satisfying. This blog provides one student's perspective on this experience.

NatureArt Lab recently hosted a two-day workshop with well-known UK botanical artist Jessica Rosemary Shepherd. With a focus on creating 'larger than life leaves', a group of 15 artists explored the possibilities of creating drama with use of light - giving the plant center stage. Jess inspired us with her ideas about where botanical art might go in the 21^st Century. Jess’ artistic projects, whether art-based, soundscapes, media or publishing ventures, explore an evolving philosophy to do with botanical artistic expression and ‘how the strategies and techniques of the visual arts can be adapted to communicate the importance of plants in the modern world’. She spoke about combating ‘plant blindness’ and using art and other mediums to focus attention on the natural world. Her work is both profoundly personal and political, environmental and cultural.