Tropical Rainforest Plants - 'Gondwana's Garden' Online Exhibition

Central detail is highlighted with a gloss glaze, then the edges blended out.

Claire chose brightly coloured flowers and fruits, similar to those on the left, to contrast with the greenery and displayed the twelve works in a 'block'.

Her research included investigations into the growth habits of species such as ...
‘Little Evodia’  evodiells muelleri (rutaceae)

‘Fibrous Satinash’  syzygium fibrosum (myrtaceae)

‘Pink Jitta or Porcelain Fruit’ (fagraea cambagei (loganiaceae)

...Investigating the heritage of Gondwana, I chose to feature some of the plant groups surviving for more than 200 million years ago, that have close living relatives in North Queensland

Moss, psilotum, locopods, ferns and cycads other ancient plants have been worked into designs to feature on my ceramics as well as handmade solar prints. 

I have become passionate about the photographic process of cyanotype which results in blueprints. 

This  process has been used from its first discovery in 1842 as a documentary tool for small flora so it has an innate connection with my chosen subject." Mollie Bosworth

...Instead, it seeks to pull us forward, expands in all directions, and infinitely unfold into never ending vistas of more.
We are given life’s questions now – to uncover life’s next answers.
To look into itself. And out into its emergent future

Nature is the expression of life’s divine pulsation, this dynamic union with which we dance.
It sits silently, yet stands loudly.

Its roots remain firmly in the earth, yet it continually reaches towards unknown heavens.
Its language is without words, yet its speech remains soft in its enchantment.

Across the planet, nature is the tango between the forms and formless, it binds us all individually and holds all as one.
And so, I bow and salute thee, this mystery force of wonder."
Yoshiko Kirby

...To achieve this I have used natural fibres, various 'found' materials and generally a coiling technique and stitching as construction." Joy Shand-Culley

...Blossom Burst  is a celebration of the eucalyptus  flower in a fairly realistic way, whereas The Flowering is a mandala like image, drawing the viewer in to focus on the detail within. From the micro to the macro. Life cycles, patterns, the continuum of life.

I used the reduction linoprinting process for both images. This requires  one linoblock to create many colours through the carving and printing process, applying layer upon layer of ink, printing by hand." Anna Curtis

Beginning their evolutionary journey 360 million years ago, and enduring landmark extinctions, ancient ferns adapted, conquering the challenges of life on land and surviving the rise of prolific competitors. They grew erect, developed roots, a vascular system, and an ingenious method of reproduction which remains unchanged today.  

With all their planetary secrets and evolutionary wisdom, there can be no greater symbol of endurance and continuity than the unfurling frond of a delicate Doryopteris or the monumental and ancient King Fern (Angiopteris evecta)."  Julie McEnerny

"Nature has an affinity for spiral patterns which are found in galaxies, shells, cyclones, plant tendrils and endless other natural formations.

In this work I have immersed myself in nature’s swirly patterns of the deep." Terry Johnson

"I live and work in rainforest, where many primitive plant species still exist.  To walk there always sets me dreaming of those ancient Gondwanan times.

To know that many still look today as they appear in fossils formed millions of years ago, seems somehow quite magical to me.  A treasure trove.  A testament to tenacity for survival.

I smile as I walk, and think, and look, briefly transported in time."

Ellen Terrell

...Designs are outlined in fine silver fillets, creating a sea of cells which are filled with vitreous enamel in several layers, each layer fired separately and gold and silver leaf might be applied in between." Beat Urfer

...In his later years, Claude Monet found his muse in Givenchy. As a mature artist, I humbly follow in his esteemed footsteps visually & contextually, in my case using glass as the medium to portray changing light, colour & form. Age softens vision, giving a different perspective to everyday objects. My own use of the pate de verre technique acts as a filter that blurs, softens and renders the seemingly everyday with mystical & precious perspectives...

Many of my glass pieces are purposed with the addition of light that allows one to look through them to penetrate the inner macrocosm. Stephen Procter a great glass artist who passed away in 2001 expressed this perfectly when he said:

            “Light provides the key both physically and metaphorically, for it is only when the image is struck with light that it comes alive.” Ausglass conference, Canberra, 1993

There are other correlations between glass and art and gardens.  To build a cohesive and productive body of work; art starts with seeds of ideas, just like a garden. If they are sown in fertile ground and nurtured, they grow to full potential. The labour of expression will sometimes produce a bumper crop and at other times a paddock of weeds. The idea needs to be fed with time, patience, trial & error. As with gardening, the returns will not happen overnight, only in the long term." Judith Bohm-Parr

...The kapok bush catches my eye, with its brilliant yellow splashes of simple flowers, developing into swelling, green fruit, filled with seeds about to be airborne as the fruit matures and splits, scattering its progeny far and wide." Jill Booth

...For the last few years I have been working on a series called "The Rainforest - colours, textures and forms.

I have wanted to give my pots texture, flow and movement. To do that  I have been using  paper clay which makes it possible to make  intricate forms related to seeds, bark, etc and after  experimenting  with various glazes I have developed a mat chrome glaze with various amounts of chrome oxide  to give my shapes and forms  the  changing colours of the rainforest and a certain glitter.

All the ceramic art works have been fired in oxidation at varying temperatures from 1200 to 1280 degree C." Lone White

...Intriguing facts like these underpin the miracle of the gardens of Gondwanaland and it is the work of these extraordinary plant propagators - these “seed merchants” and “sticky beaks” of the forests that capture my imagination.

Working in the medium of transparent watercolour is always a challenge. But it is the vivid, light-reflecting colours and the wilfulness of water that has kept me inspired for the past twenty five years of my watercolour journey. 

I never know, when starting a painting, how it will resolve itself. It is this element of surprise that continues to entice me. It’s not unlike that moment in the forest when you suddenly glimpse the dark rump of a cassowary in the gloom, or the opalescent underbelly of a Boyd’s forest dragon disappearing up a tree trunk.

Each painting in this series also pays homage to the beauty of the forest’s crystal creeks through a central panel of fallen leaves. As leaves fall they find their way to the creek bed and there return to the earth, as they have done for many millions of years. This is also where dragonflies, another ancient life form, congregate.

I hope my paintings serve in some way to isolate the beauty and the splendour of these ancient and mystical “gardens”.  Importantly, I hope they will work to ensure the forest’s amazing birdlife, plants and animals are appreciated for the miracles they are, and as such, remain respected and protected forever." Gail Shaw