Spending most of her time living and working on a cattle property in Texas, Qld,  Jane Henry uses her rural surroundings as a constant inspiration for her creative artworks.

A mostly self-taught artist who enjoys blending various mediums, recently including her own individual style of fibre art. She is constantly extending the capabilities of hand stitching on archival paper with foraged natural fibres and objects creating extremely unique artworks.

These recent intricate botanical creations combine Jane’s love of Australian native flora as well as paying homage to her mother & grandmothers who passed down the skill and appreciation of slow needlework.

Through exploring dramatic tonal contrasts and examining the balance between light and shade, Nell Symonds creates dynamic still life portrayals. Composed of assorted potteries, summery lemons and curvaceous pears and pomegranates, her subjects are often selected for their shapely proportions, intrinsic colour variations, luminosity and ability to cast compelling shadows.

Sydney based artist, Zoe Sernack has produced 5 new works for us that reflect forms of nature above and below the surface. Using a soft and delicate colour palette, Zoe not only paints but carves into the timber boards to really capture the flow and pulse of the Australian landscape. Her work explores the connections between landscape, memory and the subconscious. She has an instinctive understanding of colour, line and texture while balancing abstracted forms. Zoes’ objective has never been to depict but to evoke a visual connection. Whether it be a sense of place, a feeling or a memory.

Robin Meiklejohn is an Orange based watercolour artist . Growing up in the Blue Mountains completely surrounded by natural bush land Robin developed a life long appreciation of the beauty and fragility of her natural environment. It is her love of this environment that underpins much of her art practice today.

FLORA is a group exhibition curated by Gallery Director Madeline Young to celebrate the arrival of Spring. This collection brings together a fantastic group of unique, colourful botanical artworks of all mediums, shapes and sizes.

These contemporary artists use wonderfully diverse techniques and approach experimentation with mediums and materials and throughout their practices.

Exhibiting Artists: Misha Harrison, Zoe Sernack, Fleur Stevenson, Natasha Townsend, Liz Wickramasinghe and Madeline Young.

In Safe Keeping pays homage to the natural treasures we gather, collect and study. I have long been fascinated with natural history collections, and through my horticultural background, herbarium specimens. There is a reverence to the taking and preservation of a single fragile specimen. When pulled from the crowd and treated with care, these individual beings are elevated to a position of great importance, capturing a moment in time and inviting study and appreciation through a quiet and still voice.

This body of work comprises ornithology, entomology, mycology and herbarium specimens and collections - a gathering of works in paper, as fragile as those they represent and intended to be observed closely and cherished in safe keeping.

This series of works explores the theme of belonging through the recurring motif of banksia integrifolia foliage, which is drawn, painted or scraped back into each artwork. Banksia integrifolia, or Coast Banksia is common along Newcastle’s coast and streets and the foliage of this plant is symbolic for me. I planted one of these trees on my birthday in Dad’s garden after he died. This is my sister’s garden now, so it’s where my nephews play.The familiarity of this iconic plant, and seeing it everyday in my neighbourhood, connects me to my own sense of belonging. Having a sense of belonging is something that I realise I actively need to cultivate for myself, and reconnecting to nature and making art are part of this active process for me.

Nicola Woodcock's still life works are inspired by the flora surrounding her home on the edge of the Australian Bush. First Cut is a collection of the most vibrant stems she cold find, whether foraged or bought. Working in oil pastel with bold, gestural marks and always from life, Nicola creates works that are vivid and immediate.