Monochromatic Sketches Inspire Emotive Colourful Landscapes in the Wayfinder Series
- Charlotte Wensley
- Oct 1, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
This body of work saw me return to my monochrome sketchbook drawings of plants and foliage for fresh inspiration. My aim was to re-interpret these black and white mixed media drawings and transform them into new references to the natural world in my new colourful landscapes.
Adding another dimension to the aesthetic of my paintings in the form of organic shapes was made possible by revisiting prints, drawings and paintings of tangled undergrowth, trees, ponds and water plants and a wide variety of leaf shapes.
I had experimented with new printmaking techniques in my sketchbook and this inspired me to explore the possibilities of using printed impressions, taken from my photographs, in the early layers of the work.
I wanted to enhance the sense of place within the final paintings, and deepen the visual and emotional connection to the environment. Much of this textured print work is no longer visible in the final images, but it guided the making of each work.
The symbolism of the visual elements in these paintings became stronger and more embedded as the series progressed. The trees came to represent my search for personal truth and understanding of self, the scattered leaves speak to transience and fragility and the vessel shapes, my family as they journey with me through memories of landscape and the expanding awareness of self.
There are 18 paintings in this collection (2024).
| Anchorage
This painting is a soft and quiet visual meditation on the feeling of coming home to a place of belonging. References to the land, anchored by the sky above and water in the foreground have come together in a distillation of landscape in its essential forms. It welcomes you to a place of rest and familiarity, somewhere the mind is released from the confines of structure and the spirit is free to wander.
Mixed Media on Board
30cm x 30cm
Framed in Australian Oak
Original - SOLD
| Becalmed
Soft layers and muted tones evoke the feeling of hushed calm as the day wends towards evening and the sky begins to darken. Becalmed captures the moment of settling, as quiet stillness descends when the energy of the day dissipates. A moment suspended, where time, tide, and thought seem to hold their breath and restoration and re-balancing of the self can begin.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
| Cascade
I feel attuned to the patterns and rhythms I notice in nature and this sense of repetition often finds its way into my work. Using these visual elements helps me describe a sense of kinetic energy and forward motion which mirrors how I experience time: constantly moving, rarely still. The darkened sky in this painting adds a note of tension and urgency; a reminder to be awake to the passing of time and to consciously witness life as I travel through it. The feeling of flowing and tumbling through the landscape is a reflection how alive, complex, and fleeting life seems to me.
Mixed Media on Board
90cm x 90cm
Framed in Australian Oak
Original - SOLD
| Cloudless
This abstraction of a warm verdant landscape bathed in light, is reminiscent of the rolling hills of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, where I settled when I emigrated to Australia many years ago. I have a strong affinity with places like this, they offer a sense of connectedness to nature and the opportunity to feel stillness and observe the rhythms of the earth and the subtle shifts in seasons. These landscapes seem to me to be the perfect distillation of the quiet strength of nature and of its beauty. In this piece, colour and shape have come together to evoke the calm of a summer evening sky beneath which the rhythm of the earth slows and a clarity emerges in the fading light.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original painting is currently available at Underart Gallery.
| Drifting
This painting became a contemplative exploration of flow and transition, both visually but also emotionally. An awareness surfaced whilst making this piece that a certain kind of conscious surrender is necessary in order to access my inner landscapes of thought and reflection. To access these places of calm and connection to my subconscious self, is to accept that sometimes it's necessary to feel untethered and allow myself to drift through space and time as if carried by waves of unseen forces to destinations unknown.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
| Hidden Valley
This piece tells a story about there being more treasure in this world than we sometimes think and though it can sometimes feel like a quest to find it, it's always worth the journey to discover it. The vibrant colours evoke memories of lush terrain dotted with hidden billabongs, and places of sanctuary that can be found in the hills. ‘Hidden Valley’ invites you on a journey to find that treasure; a place where freedom exists to allow the true, unguarded expression of emotion.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original painting is currently available at Underart Gallery.
| Meeting Place
This piece explores the quiet dialogue between land and sea, mirroring the inner self and the external self that we offer to the world. Layers of texture and soft flowing shapes trace the ebb and flow of waves, the shifting patterns of sand, and the gentle interplay of light and shade. There is a strong sense of personal presence in this painting. I have a feeling of standing at the edge of time, sensing the rhythm of the tide and the transient beauty of the shoreline. I feel both vital energy and an air of calm in this piece which invites you to contemplate the ever-evolving connection between earth and water, as they represent the internal and external self.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original painting is currently available at Nissarana Galleries.
| Mountain Secrets
Mountains have always carried a deep resonance for me—a living metaphor for steadfastness, longevity, and quiet stability. They are keepers of ancient stories and silent secrets, layered over time to form powerful narratives about endurance, resilience, and strength. This little painting is an intimate homage to those qualities, capturing the quiet flourishing that happens in their shadow, reflecting the human experience of adapting to change and challenge.
Mixed Media on Board
30cm x 30cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original is currently available at Stevens Street Gallery.
| Nightfall
Nightfall is a time to let go. This painting evokes feelings of nostalgia that arrive at times when endings and beginnings softly intertwine. Times when the world is draped in easy peacefulness in the fading light and emotional safety feels accessible. Beginning again tomorrow is possible only if I put down and let go of, the story of today.
Mixed Media on Board
30cm x 30cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original is currently available at Stevens Street Gallery.
| Passage
Passage invites you to take a visual journey through layers of detail, colour and flowing forms which describe the feeling of travelling towards a bright and positive horizon. This painting holds space for reflection, honouring the vulnerability of leaving emotions, experiences and relationships behind and moving forward. It is a visual reminder that every transition, no matter how uncertain it may feel at the time, carries with it the promise of progress and renewal.
Mixed media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original painting is currently available at Underart Gallery.
| Retreat
Retreat is a quiet landscape where the noise of the world falls away. Soft, layered hues allow us to wander through distant hills to the warm embrace of sky, inviting a deep exhale. I find stillness and solace in places where the spirit can rest and the heart can settle into its own quiet rhythm once again. This painting is a reminder that sometimes the truest journeys are the ones where we retreat from the world and find a way back to ourselves.
Mixed Media on Board
30cm x 30cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original is currently available at Stevens Street Gallery.
| Sanctuary
This painting was inspired by the ancient landscapes of Far North Queensland; a place that, to me, feels untouched by time. Walking through the rainforest there, I’m always struck by a deep sense of history. It feels as though old stories and lived experiences are quietly present in the shadows. The dense layers of green create a kind of nurturing refuge that grounds me in a way that few other places do. This painting is an invitation into the feeling of sanctuary I experience there, where I can slow down, breathe deeply, rest, and reconnect with the gentle, steady pulse of nature.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original painting is currently available at Underart Gallery.
| Sheltered
This piece was inspired by the gentle rolling landscapes of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, where seasonal ponds and dams abound with summer flowering Blue Lotus. I combined the soft, layered hues in this painting with flowing shapes to create a cocoon-like space, evoking the feeling of being nurtured by nature and being given a protected space to simply ‘be’. The composition speaks to those quiet places where flowers gently grow in the shade and the shallows, blooming beautifully without fanfare when they are ready.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
Original - SOLD
| The Eyrie
This painting was inspired by my realisation that the need for experiential perspective is an essential part of the human condition. ‘The Eyrie’ invites you to rise above the noise and chatter to a place of stillness, and from this vantage point, gain clarity and see the genuine truth of things. The layered sweeping forms in the composition leads to a higher place of solitude, in the form of the blue tree, which, whilst not fully realised as a visual element in the painting, offers further promise to those of us looking for clarity about our life experiences.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original painting is currently available at Nissarana Galleries.
| The Gift
This painting was inspired by the familiar rhythm of the coming and going of precious people. At its heart, this work reflects the strong yet ephemeral bonds that tether me to this world, the family connections that sustain and steady me, reminding me of who I am, where I am and what it is to be in this moment in time, with them. Having the presence of these people around me feels like the greatest of gifts.
Mixed Media on Board
30cm x 30cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original is currently available at Stevens Street Gallery.
| The Grasshopper
This soft landscape has a subtle retro feel, with its muted tones and nostalgic light reminiscent of faded photographs. The gentle interplay of colour and form creates a dreamlike sense of place; timeless, tender, and quietly evocative of good things from times past. It’s a painting that has a sense familiarity and that holds space for reflection on childhood summer days spent roaming English country lanes.
Mixed Media on Board
30cm x 30cm
Framed in Australian Oak
The original is currently available at Stevens Street Gallery.
| Unhindered
Being in Far North Queensland with its lush rainforests, strange and surreal plants, hanging vines and vibrant flowers invites a surrender of the soul and feeling of releasing withheld energy into the natural world. It’s one of my favourite places in Australia; I describe it as ‘the land that time forgot’. I feel at my most grounded in the rainforests there and connected to a wise and ancient energy gifted by the old trees and untamed wildness. The light and shade in the forests seem to echo the human experience of inevitable change.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
Original - SOLD
| Unearthed
This painting is a story about quiet discovery and revelation. It’s a reflection on the knowledge and understanding that emotions can lie dormant beneath the everyday, waiting patiently until the moment is right to become visible. The layering of shapes and colours suggest something long hidden slowly rising to the surface, describing a journey of meditation on memory, time, and the sometimes unrecognised emotions and experiences that profoundly shape us.
Mixed Media on Board
30cm x 30cm
Framed in Australian Oak
| Wayfinder
This is an intuitive piece that began with the foliage elements as they represent trust in finding new directions. With every additional layer I felt a sense of navigating a shifting inner landscape and whilst registering uncertainty there was a strong feeling of guidance and quiet reassurance that my inner compass would take me in the right direction in that present moment. Finding new ways forward presents challenges, but the rewards are plentiful when we follow that momentum and the direction becomes clear.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
Original - SOLD
| Whispers
This piece is a soft and gentle visual conversation with elements of landscape that touches intentionally on notions of fragility and impermanence, which are woven into every layer of our human experience. We build lives, identities, and relationships knowing that they are just passing moments in terms of the universe; that these things will shift, change and eventually be gone, like whispers in the wind. To embrace this fragility is to recognise our humanness and to accept impermanence is to discover a quiet freedom in letting go and allowing life to bring us what it will.
Mixed Media on Board
60cm x 60cm
Framed in Australian Oak
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