Nature By Design: Elemental Explorations of Nature's Abstract Shapes and Forms
- Apr 29
- 4 min read
There’s something quietly compelling about returning to the same abstract shapes and forms again and again, watching them shift and simplify as if in a state of constant revelation.
| Observing Abstract Forms in Nature
'Nature by Design' is a collection of lino prints has grown directly from sustained attention to observing abstract shapes and forms in nature. Featuring leaf forms drawn from Australian native plants found in my studio surroundings, (banksia, grevillea, corkwood, casuarina and mangrove), these print designs sit alongside my current paintings as companion pieces, visual investigations and points of departure into expression rather than depiction.
This work began during time spent on the shores of Lake Weyba, and in Noosa National Park, simply sitting and enjoying the environment and feeling the need to capture something of it creatively. Rather then feeling drawn to the landscape as a whole, I instinctively looked to the finer details around me, and leaves there are plenty of, in both of these places!
Leaves and trees have been a symbolic feature of my painting work for many years, so it's no surprise that I'm naturally gravitate towards new ways to engage with these elements of the landscape.
| En Plein Air with Oil Pastel
The process of creating these lino print designs began outdoors, sketching en plein air with oil pastel. These quick, responsive drawings were less about capturing detail and more about understanding the structure and shape of foliage elements; how the edge of a leaf arcs, how it's attached to the stem of the plant, how it occupies space, both negatively and positively and the general arrangement of the leaves around the stem.
Working in oil pastel eliminated any possibility of getting too distracted by trying to draw fine details in this exploratory sketching stage.
| Sketch to Print
Back in the studio, I translated some of these observations into a simple black and white graphic drawings for transferring onto a lino block (I've tried a few different lino surfaces - and I love the easy carve lino blocks).
The act of carving becomes a further meditation on the shapes and a way of editing and refining them, stripping away the unnecessary until something essential remains and focusing on the pattern-like qualities of forms that I'm particularly drawn to.
Working in black and white allows the forms to speak simply and with clarity. The designs are bold and graphic, with strong silhouettes and lively rhythmic marks. Small dots and repeated elements echo across the background, introducing a pattern-like quality that hints at the joyful complexity of the environments they come from.
| Print to Paint
But these lino prints are not an endpoint, though they are small original artworks in their own right. They feed directly back into my painting practice. The carved designs are reinterpreted as stencils, which I use on the gelli plate to build layered prints and papers for collage . This allows the same forms to reappear in different contexts; fragmented, overlapping, repeated or embedded within larger compositions.
In this way, my collection of lino print designs becomes part of my broader visual language. The repetition of these natural motifs is not about replication, but about deepening familiarity them and further developing visual fluency with rhythms of the places they come from.
Each Limited Edition lino print is both a standalone work and a piece of an ongoing conversation between drawing, printmaking and painting that is very much part of my current creative practice.
| Nature by Design: A New Lino Print Collection
Nature by Design continues to evolve, with new prints added as the process unfolds and I find new shapes to explore. These small original artworks are the foundations of my current shape exploration as I continue to develop my fluency of place and absorb these ideas into my larger painting work.
Each piece is individually printed, carrying its own subtle variations while remaining connected to the wider series.
There are two edition types:
Limited Edition - 20 Numbered Limited Edition Original Prints
Studio Edition - 50 Numbered Limited Edition Original Prints
| Print Designs
At the time of writing the following designs are currently available (unframed):
Off This Place - Grevillea
14cm x 21cm (A5)
Limited Edition of 20
Mangrove Script
15cm x 15cm
Limited Edition of 20
Midnight Banskia
20cm x 20cm
Studio Edition of 50
Dancing Banksia
20cm x 20cm
Studio Edition of 50
Banksia Picnic
20cm x 20cm
Studio Edition of 50
Banksia Shadows
20cm x 20cm
Studio Edition of 50
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