NatureArt Lab Blog

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.

Last month, we had the incredible opportunity to explore the captivating world of one of Australia's most iconic species. Snakes and lizards, often misunderstood or overlooked, took centre stage as we delved into their beauty and uniqueness in the course, Illustrating Australian Reptiles with Zoe Lawrence.

Over the course, our students were given the rare chance to intimately interact with live reptiles, gaining firsthand knowledge and mastering techniques to accurately capture their essence through coloured pencil illustrations. It was a harmonious fusion of art and science, allowing us to raise awareness and foster a deep appreciation for these magnificent creatures and our native fauna as a whole.

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.

Valerie Kirk spent three weeks as an artist-in-residence at Namadgi National Park exploring concepts of time, impermanence, living in the present and being mindful of the past and future in this awe-inspiring natural landscape. During the residency she studied the granite rocks and plants, documenting the impact of fires, rain and climate change through expressive drawing and weaving “en plein air”. 

I’m lucky to live close enough to Ginninderra Creek to walk there most days. Before the arrival of my little red dog Ruby, a jaunt around the closest five kilometre loop took about 40 minutes. These days it takes more like an hour, but it is definitely my favourite hour of the day.

Welcome to the blog for Reflections on Nature. We’ve started it up so that those of you who want to tell a bit more of a story about the natural world and your experiences in it will have the space to do so. Whether you write prose, use a pencil and watercolours, wield a camera, compile note books full  of field notes or write poetry, are a professional artist or a complete beginner, your contribution is more than welcome. As a group, we moderators cover the spectrum of experience and focus and are keen to encourage everyone to post and share. We want to hear from as many different voices as possible. It’s that kind of space.

I have been on twelve other photo tours or workshops in the last eight years and organised a couple myself.  This one stood out not merely for the magic of the rainforest wildlife but also as socially harmonious and stimulating.The highlights for me were seeing giant flying squirrels, bearded pigs, orangutans and sun bears in Sepilok, pig tailed macaques, proboscis monkeys and  a slow loris at the Kinabatangan River and gibbons, hornbills, a clouded leopard and a tarsier in Tabin.  

For the first time in my life I observed more mammal species than reptile species (mammal diversity is often hard to observe), and encountered life-changing experiences like a clouded leopard feeding on a palm civet up on a tree, which I got to capture with my lens after waiting for almost two hours. This blog relates the experiences of Dr Damien Esquerre, co-leader and photography tutor on our twelve day nature photography trip to Sabah, Malaysian Borneo from 2 - 14 May 2019.