Mysterious Realms Series
Since 2021 I have been overlaying some older paintings with acrylic paint pens, continuing my investigation into the mysteries of patterns in nature. This has been partly inspired by my involvement with Friederike in our ArtWays project (see the ArtWays page), where free line drawing and patterns are a central interest. As always, I am fascinated by fractals – by the particular patterns that form both in the microcosmic and macrocosmic worlds. I have learnt recently that human beings are hard-wired, through evolution to enjoy patterns, particularly fractals and that being in nature (which is full of fractals) is good for health and wellbeing. A name for humans’ affinity for nature and other life forms is ‘biophilia’.
Paintings photographed by Bernhard Fischer
Beach with Sand Dollar Pattern - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
102 X 91cm
$1,800
The Sand Dollar is a flattened disc-shaped echinoderm with a hard shell. Echinoderms are a group of marine animals with radial symmetry. They also include creatures such as starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Their skeletons are often found on beaches.
Cassinia with Motif - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
91 x 102cm
$1,750
Cassinia is a native shrub with cream-coloured flowers. It is distributed through south-eastern Australia and is a familiar ‘friend’ when we go camping. It grows near my house.
Chasing the Light - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
76 x 76cm
$1,500
Fractal patterns, arranged and overlaid together look like lichen clustered on a rock face.
Clusters: Into the Heart - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
71 x 76cm
$1,500
This painting resembles an aerial view over a landscape. It is overlaid with a map or pattern of connected pieces, arranged in clusters of different sized ‘communities’. Cities, organisms, star clusters?
Creatures that live in light and shade - 2023
167 x 101cm
$2,500
Fractal patterns which arranged and overlaid together look like lichen clustered on a rock face. I made these patterns spontaneously and repeatedly over a period of time. I let the shapes form naturally as though they were growing, not perfectly but with variations, as they would in nature.
Acrylic paint on canvas
Creatures that live in light and shade (detail)
Cumulus - 2023
Acrylic paint on canvas
167 x 101cm
$2,500
This is a painting which I started years ago for the Windows series. The original layer of watery paint marks resembles a landscape from an aerial viewpoint. Overlaying it are translucent squares which symbolise cumulus clouds. I revisited and finished this painting in 2023.
Cumulus (detail)
Cumulus (detail 2)
Dispersal - 2009
Acrylic paint on canvas
70 x 70cm
$1,400
Although I created and exhibited this little painting in 2009, I have included it here as it fits perfectly with the current theme and I exhibited it again in the ‘Ecotones’ exhibition in 2023. I love the balance of chaos: free flowing paint and water, and the order of triangles. It reminds me of the dispersal of seeds from their flower heads into the landscape.
Interphase: Blueprint of life - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
71 x 76cm
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I thought that this pattern resembles a strand of DNA. My friend Julian suggested the title: ‘Interphase’. Interphase is the ‘daily life’ stage of a cell, in which it obtains and metabolises nutrients, grows and replicates its DNA before entering mitosis, or the cell division stage.
Kendra’s Painting - 2023
Acrylic paint on canvas
78 x 78cm
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My friend Kendra fell in love with and bought this painting before it had a name, so it is called ‘Kendra’s Painting’.
Migration II - 2023
Acrylic paint on canvas
167 x 101cm
$2,500
When I look at this painting it makes me think of a murmuration of a large flock of birds. There is an element of order in the apparent chaos. As individuals maintain a certain distance from those nearest them, any change in movements affects those in their vicinity which causes a constant ripple effect to occur throughout the flock.
Migration II (detail)
Pollen Drift - 2021
Acrylic paint on wood
56 x 61cm
Artist's Collection
This is an intuitive free-line drawing that I made over a painting which was an impressionistic rendering of Cassinia flowers. It makes me think of the unnoticed little creatures, spiderling webs, dust and plant debris floating around us.
Pollen Party - 2023
Acrylic paint on canvas
70 x 76cm
Artist's Collection
The patterns are inspired by photographs of pollen grains seen under the microscope.
Shimmers in the Grass - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
66 x 66cm
$850
This painting was inspired by a memory I had of watching an Eggfly Butterfly flit about the forest, constantly changing directions. I was left with an impression of flashes of white and blue as it moved rapidly from one place to another.
Summer in Green City - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
78 x 78cm
$1,500
Revisiting a painting from the Windows Series: Our city is located on what must have once been a paradise: a bountiful place for First Nations People to live and gather in. There are some beautiful gardens and parks and we once aspired to create an eco-city.
Sunrise - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
70 x 70cm
$1,500
The sun rises across our beautiful landscape. Its radiance lights up every corner.
The Moth Effect - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
71 x 76cm
$1,500
In the forest of life, everything affects everything. Everything, everyone is connected.
Tracks/Journey - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
78 x 78cm
$1,500
Originally painted for the Windows Series in 2008, I have overlaid this one with tracks resembling those made by the Scribbly Gum Moth as it burrows through the bark of this tree. What determines our life’s journey, suspended between the freedom to choose and the elements that influence or constrain us?
Wish You Were Here: Postcards from Home - 2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
78 x 78cm
$1,500
I live in a beautiful place between the mountains and the sea. In 2007, when my daughter left home to make her way in the world, I missed her and painted this picture. This year I added lines with an acrylic pen to highlight the patterns of sand dunes and beach.
Microcosmic Drift - 2021
Acrylic paint on wood
56 x 61cm
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This is an intuitive impression of the microscopic world. Seemingly invisible and unnoticed – in different realms, we are however intimately connected – microcosms within macrocosms.
Mysterious Realms Series - Small Paintings
Celestial Imaginings - 2023
Acrylic paint on wood
30 x 35cm
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An intuitive sojourn in a night landscape.
Feather Flower Mandala - 2023
Acrylic paint on wood
30 x 35cm
$850
The Feather Flower or Verticordia oculata grows in Western Australia. WA is home to half of Australia’s wildflower varieties and they are incredibly diverse.
Feathered Hills - 2023
Acrylic paint on wood
35 x 40cm
$900
This is a pattern of feathers. I noticed that they resemble sunlit hills and I like the simplicity of the contrast of yellow lines with the soft undertones of the original painting.
Lichen Community - 2023
Acrylic paint on wood
30 x 35cm
$850
The simple joy of creating patterns and contrasting colours is what motivated this painting. It resembles a community of lichen species. I have been fascinated by lichen on recent camping trips a have spent considerable time photographing them.
Lily Pond - 2023
Acrylic paint on wood
30 x 35cm
$850
This is an intuitive free drawing which has been finished with patterns. It resembles an aerial view of a lily pond.
Moonflowers - 2023
Acrylic paint on wood
30 x 35cm
$850
I got the idea for these flower umbels from photos of Moonflowers, or Drumstick Starflowers (Scabiosa stellata).
Mushroom Field - 2023
Acrylic paint on wood
40 x 35cm
$900
This pattern was inspired by a macro photograph of the skin surface of a puffball. Playing with scale, I have called it ‘Mushroom Field’, because it also resembles that.