Boranup inspired

Artwork to remind you of home

Art of a special place

The client for this piece is an ex-pat Aussie living in the USA. They wanted something that reminded them of the Boranup Forest area, one of their favourite places from their home state, Western Australia.

Clematis, native to Western Australia

The requested piece included several elements:

  • a large clearing with a stream running through it, reminiscent of Boranup Forest in South West WA but not any actual part of the forest;

  • a seat or some human element, to provide a sense of the scale of the forest;

  • a foreground of local wildflowers and orchids. I included a sundew as this has some significance to their family;

  • and a size that would both fit in their suitcase home and shine on their wall.

Cowslips, orchids native to south west Western Australia

Before starting, I researched flowers of the Boranup region and collated reference images from both publicly available sources and my own personal photographs. I am familiar with the area having visited many times, but wanted to be sure the flowers I was including were local to that specific region.

The creek element was based on the small streams that run through parts of the greater Margaret River region.

the process

  • Selecting the elements to include

  • Cut painted paper flowers are laid over a landscape scene of karri trees

    Constructing the layout

  • close up photograph of a paint palette, paint brushes and a painting of australian natives including clematis, karri trees and pink fairy orchids

    Painting the final piece

The final piece was well received and provided the sense of scale, stream and seating as requested.

Making note of what was included as I want allowed me to create a flower map for the client, so they can identify which plants are present in the painting and share it more fully with their family overseas.

If you have a problem in need of magic mud and a splash of sustainability, let’s garden together!