Artwork by Kurrajong Hills resident Meaghan Potter is now on display as part of an exhibition by Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, which includes a range of works portraying Australian wildlife.
The Wild Thing exhibition features drawings, paintings, photography, printmaking and ceramics works by Australian and international artists, all inspired by the wildlife of the Botanic Gardens.
Ms Potter's piece 'New Holland Honeyeater' was inspired by sightings of the Australian native honeyeater at Blue Mountains Botanic Garden at Mount Tomah.
The piece, created at her Kurrajong Hills studio and using a water colour base with charcoal lines, textures and details, portrays her experience viewing the iconic bird at the garden.
"It's pretty special [to be picked for the exhibition] because it's among so many other great artists who are also dealing with the topic of nature and birds in the gardens," she said.
Ms Potter has also entered one of her works into the Hawkesbury Art Prize, and currently has a solo exhibition running at .M Contemporary Art Gallery in Sydney.
She said her works are all about animals and birds that she's interacted with: "A lot of my works are about local wildlife. I did a residency in Victoria recently and did a lot of local birds down there, and I've also done the same in New Zealand."
Ms Potter is a bird enthusiast and has painted Hawkesbury wildlife including possums, sugar gliders, kookaburras, currawongs, galahs, magpies, thornbills, whistlers, scarlett robins and more.
"I've gone bird banding before with ABSA [Australian Bird Study Association]; they were doing a study in Bligh Park where we caught the birds in nets and tagged and monitored them. That was really inspiring for doing artworks based on my experiences with that," she said.
The Botanic Gardens support an enormous amount of wildlife, including vulnerable species, providing valuable green space in an ever-growing urban environment.
The gardens are home to birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, spiders, frogs, fish and even a few crustaceans, which all have a relationship with the living collections of on-site plants.
Proceeds from the sale of original works in the exhibition will go to artists, and also to not-for-profit organisation Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens to be used for conservation and education projects.
The Wild Thing 2019 exhibition is showing daily from 10am until 4pm until August 18, in the Lion Gate Lodge at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney. Entry is free.
Visit www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/wildthing for details.
