'Renaissance' 2024
 
Dip-pen drawing in oak-gall and walnut ink. Hand-made watercolours and gouache, traditional recipes and techniques using historically accurate, genuine earth pigments sourced from Australia, Italy, England, USA, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Greece, India, Cyprus, France, Israel and Morocco.
Featuring very rare Australian ochre pigments for the butterflies (see socials for images)
Hand-applied fine Dutch gold leaf (copper:zinc:aluminium) in the traditional method.
Italian, eco-certified, archival, artist quality, animal free paper
Framed in Tasmanian Oak Natural Timber
Note: A sample of the ochre stones from which the pigment is made is on show at Honest Paper.
 
Renaissance is originally French for 're-birth' and while the word is most associated with a very important art movement, in this work I have referenced both the movement and the symbology of the butterfly. Also the iris flower represents faith, courage, hope and innate wisdom, all necessary traits for the process of re-birth, re-invention and rejoicing.  This art is made in celebration of nature and as such only uses carefully selected historically accurate, natural ingredients to be extra kind to the planet.
 
This painting is one of the 'Abundance' series and has been created with a wonderful array of natural ochre pigments from around the world to celebrate and be inspired by nature. Ochre is a coloured rock, a pigment used by painter throughout human art history from pre-antiquity to now. Thousands of years old, ochre comes from deep in the earth and is different in character depending on the place of origin. In this work, I have included ochres from all over the world and used genuine natural tree gum from African acacia trees, known as gum arabica which has been used for centuries as a binding medium for traditional watercolours and gouache. The paint is naturally optimised to showcase the nuances in the pigments as it dries to a clear crystalline form and allows the colours to be vibrant and pure.
 
In the spirit of 'all is connected', these ochres are sourced from layers of earth below the surface of different landscapes, the similarity and beauty of the materials is a connection, a meeting point laid out in this artwork, symbolic of love, protection and our good fortune to live with such beauty in our flora and fauna.