Named after Sir Joseph Banks these iconic Australian wildflowers continue to inspire artists.
As subject matter for still life arrangements or represented in landscape paintings, artists such as Margaret Preston drew inspiration from their characteristic flower with spikes and fruiting cones. A recent exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery, “Making Modernism” included Margaret Preston’s detailed and colourful oils. In response to this exhibition, the gallery invited Sunshine Coast artist Judith Simmonds to conduct a workshop on how to paint banksias. The experience of revisiting the subject matter lead me to review previous drawings and paintings, gather new insights and create new work.
