Developing Focus

My residency at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha has been a great opportunity to focus on responses to a place over the time of nine months. Heading towards the end of the term, I am aware of an increasing clarity in my residency artworks. There is also a more general realisation of how I relate to 'place', a focused visual awareness of how and what I see and the way these observations are interpreted. It has been the serial observations in one location over a period of time that has enabled me to understand further how I see and interpret connected layers of life.

The Flower Show

'Nectar Lure' ©2009. Acrylic and pigmented ink on canvas, 60 x 60cm. Nicola Moss.

The Flower Show - a curated group exhibition inspired by all things botanical, opened at Brenda May Gallery in Sydney this week. I am thrilled to have three paintings from my Pollination series selected for inclusion in the show.

If you have an opportunity to be in Sydney this weekend, you can meet the artists on Saturday 26th September from 4-6pm; the exhibition continues until 18th October.

Leaf Litter

The continuing dry spell in Brisbane has resulted in much leaf drop throughout the Australian Plant Communities area at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha. Although the loss of leaf hints at stressed plants, the resulting carpets of leaf litter are beautiful in accumulated masses of vibrant red and gold to shades of sunbleached ochre. Punctuations of vivid blue/purple seed pods from Blue Quandongs above finish off the kaleidoscope effect.

Artwork in Progress

'Family Traits I', ©2009. Nicola Moss.

Artworks developing from my experiences as artist in residence at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha are starting to develop more experimental layering in paper. Layering techniques form a core in my painting practice, I was keen to explore the potential of layering in paper during my residency. This idea seems very apt in response to observations in the gardens; nature is deeply layered.

New Growth in September

New growth sprouts in lime green and rust red.

A Walk with Friends

Last week I invited friends to join me on a visual walk around the Australian Plant Communities area at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha. It was a beautiful day which I enjoyed a lot with the company of Jenny, Rachael and Sophie. We were all enthusiastic about spotting new growth, extraordinary vibrant flowers and wonderful pods. I realised how familiar I have become with many of the plants in this area, and how much I enjoy observing the seasonal changes. It was less than a week since my last walk and yet there were significant changes in some plants.

Thanks for joining me, it was a great day.

Photo courtesy of Rachael Lee.

New Growth in September

Spring is a beautiful time in the Australian Plant Communities at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha. Lots of trees are sprounting new growth in shades of pale baby skin translucency; vivid pink red and luminous lime green. I am particularly attracted to the forms created when deciduous trees first sprout new growth. The sculptural qualities of bare branches and trunk combined with various tufting sprouts is a striking silhouette.

Seasonal landscape - work in progress

'Seasonal Landscape - May in the Gardens' ©2009. Nicola Moss. (In Progress)

I have been working on one of the seasonal collections I started earlier in the year. It was good to come back to these surfaces with fresh eyes and a clear direction for developing work. Each work on paper features new growth, flowering sprigs or seed pods observed during the month of May in the Australian Plant Communities. It is interesting to me just how much each of these monthly groupings varies in colours, texture and featured vegetation.

I have been thinking about making some whole season groupings, Autumn for example, to create large scale works.

Foliage Diversity

As the year has progressed, my walks around the Australian Plant Communities have grown a little longer as I add a few more paths to the regular route I take. This has revealed more plants with fabulous foliage which I haven't noticed previously.

A year as artist in residence is a real luxury, such a generous amount of time. Even so it takes time to become familiar with a place. The Australian Plant Communities covers 27 hectares, and I am still finding areas to explore, there will always be more plants to observe.

I am excited at the realisation of a developing relationship that extends beyond the residency term. These gardens are now a place I will visit for many years to come.

Flowering in September

'Calls from the Canopy' 2009. Collaborative mosaic, artist Nicola Moss & mosaicist Emma Boys.

I have been waiting for a year imagining what the bandstand mosaic, Calls from the Canopy, may look like once the Tabebuia trees are in flower again. I was excited to see on my trip to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha this week the vibrant gold yellow flowers had appeared. These flowers and other seasonal golden vegetation surrounding the bandstand influenced my choice of colours for the mosaic. I am thrilled to see it come together.

Flowering in September

There is a fabulous range of delicate and vibrant flowers on show in the Australian Plant Communities area this month. Snow wood, spear lily, Bombax and epiphytes are just a few of the diverse range of plants currently in flower.

Some Days are Gold

It was one of those days in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, when I thought to myself, some days are gold. The gardens are looking incredibly beautiful, the light was just right, I kept finding plants smothered in pods and delicate flower, the colours were so vibrant, and I spotted a scarlet honeyeater.

If you have been contemplating a visit to the Australian Plant Communities area of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt.Coot-tha, now is a great time to go.