Proteas are not Australian Native Flowers

There really is no explanation for this, but slowly creeping over the past twenty years or so, more and more artists and interior designers are including Australian plants into their designs, however none more so than the very structural Protea. Which is not an Australian native. Yes- they do very well in most Australian gardens and are in the florist trade extensively as are their cousins Leucodendrons but both are native to South Africa and do not grow wild in Australia.

Wattles, bottlebrushes, hakeas, banksias, tea trees, gum trees, etc are Australian natives - but not those darn Proteas!

So when I saw another protea in amongst a group of Australian natives - that's what I did my digital scrapbooking page on.  I've really enjoyed going 'back' to kraft and different ways of using it. The buttons remind me of gumnut seeds.

Proteas ARE NOT Australian 2019 Dec

It also seemed to inspire my latest painting - Banksias for Tiffany (aka Mr Tiffany of Tiffany Studios New York 1890's - 1930's.) which I painted on paper with acrylics. I've never painted a banksia before.

the day the sky turned orange and it went dark

I didn't see any flames, and I wasn't in direct danger at any point, but I saw things I've never seen before. I saw panic. I saw skies turn dark in the middle of the day. I saw a strange orange glow across the smoke filled skies cast down upon the ground below making everyone and everything look orangey. I saw burnt leaves and burnt ash flit past like tiny insects on windy days. I sensed the unpredictability of the fire fronts and I praised and was so thankful to all those in emergency services for providing protection and calm amongst chaos.

I don't seem quite able to move forward properly, so I have created this scrap page which I hope will help shift things within me, as I have many more friends and associates directly caught up in the fires and have been incredibly lucky.

Exodus 2020 - digital scrapbooking page