'Us'
‘Us’
60 x 46cm
Acrylic, pastel & charcoal on canvas
This painting represents standing as one.
Not ‘Us and Them’ just ‘Us’.
Aiming to depict the sense of family and ‘oneness’ that I witnessed during the Australian bushfires, this painting is ab out the way communities came together to make sure everyone was ok and it was amazing to watch.
I watched people pitch in, offering their time, money, homes and even their things! The amount of encounters with strangers that ended in saying ‘Stay safe’ was a testament to this strong foundation of ‘Us’
The word ‘unprecedented’ was suddenly regular vocabulary to us all but we were all in it together.
A value, that despite seeing many who don’t, I continue to subscribe to and something I believe is the cure of most evils.
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ORIGINAL PAINTING SOLD
A2 Print - $65
A4 Print - $55
Gift Card + Envelope - $10
Note Card - $6
Journal - $40
*Note: please be aware that there will be some discrepancy in the colour of the artwork vs the image on screen due to the nature of the way colour is represented digitally.
This artwork is part of the ‘Fire & Feathers’ collection.
Which is a series of paintings that came from the ashes of the Black Summer Bushfires in 2019
I’ve never experienced anything like it before… the sheer fear of falling asleep at night with eery red skies, knowing the fires were inching closer, a full nights sleep was not possible, with the essential need to listen to the emergency scanners and check in with all our people. Carrying the responsibility of getting my daughters and all our animals to safety and the logistics of that with 3 horses and a 2 horse trailer. Digging deep and attempting to quell my terror and act fast when we were stopped on the highway, directed by a frantic police officer quickly motioning for a highway full of vehicles to somehow turn around and get the hell out - cos the fire was coming straight for us!
These paintings were my way of making sense of the experience and aiming to capture the resilient Aussie spirit that was shown in such real and raw ways.
The colour palette, the composition, layering style and the type of Aussie bird and botanicals that I used were all very carefully considered.
The juxtaposition of the devastation alongside the incredible kinship of people was something I wanted to capture through the birds and the native flowers and foliage. Encounters with strangers that ended in saying ‘Stay safe’ was a testament to our strong foundation as Australian people. The word ‘unprecedented’ was suddenly regular vocabulary to us all but we were all in it together.
At the time of creating these paintings I was very deep into my own devastation through my divorce and huge life upheaval and this is unconsciously expressed in each painting… that same ‘Rising from the ashes’ and sentiments of beginning again, sung true.
Resilience is a virtue that only comes after allowing something challenging to shape us in a stronger, wiser and more gracious way. These fires did this to us all.