Murals

Benalla Street Art Festival 2024

'…a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars...' 

(Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness,1899.)

Client: Benalla Street Art Festival 2024

Curated by Eddie Zammit.

Location and size: Treasure Hunter/GMCU carpark,
Fawckner Drive (Rear of 30 Bridge Street East)
15m x 5.5m

Exploring the fragility of our landscape, this mural delves into the romanticism around darkness. Eucalyptus burns and feral cat skulls lie. Monarchs and a common kingfisher are also foreign, yet here they’re unaffected by the scrub burning below. 

A mural about invasion, about climate, and about painting.

Benalla Landscape

Benalla Landscape

Client: The Merchant, Benalla

For Benalla Street Art Festival 2024

Curated by Eddie Zammit 

Location, size and date: The Merchant, Bridge Street Benalla 
3.5m x 2.5m x 2, 2024

A yellow-tufted honeyeater, dusky woodswallow and peachy earth elements for The Merchant. 

Inspired by the ochre plains that surround the region and the old gnarly gums that line the waterways, these two bird species are native to the nearby Winton Wetlands. 

Commissioned as a part of the Benalla Street Art Festival 2024, and partnered with Melbourne Gin Company.  

Golden Hour

Golden Hour

Client: Neerim South Progress Association in collaboration with Neerim South IGA and Neerim South Community Foundation for the Neerim South Sculpture Festival. . 

Location, size and date: IGA, Neerim South, Victoria
26m x 4m, 2024

A celebration of the West Gippsland bush, for this wall I wanted to use colour and light to try and capture the moments and gradients of dusk in our scrubby landscape. 

Inspired by the nearby ranges, I have featured an eastern whipbird, yellow-tailed black cockatoo, male satin bowerbird and fenmale satin bowerbird with blue gum leaves, trigger plant flowers and hellebores as a nod to the gardens that people have established in this special climate. 

Photos by Nicky Cawood.

Myths & Muses, Leongatha

Myths and Muses

Client: Approved by ED
Location, size and date: McCartin Street, Leongatha
36 x 4.5m, 2024

Commissioned by the Approved by ED team, within this work I wanted to honour the different aspects of the Leongatha landscape - the native flora and birds that are abundant but also the built environment, especially in reference to the work the Approved by ED team do in helping building dreams to be realised. 

Featured are antique brass herons, dahlias, leucandendrons and a rubber plant alongside a magpie, black-faced cuckoo shrike, flame robin and blue-winged parrot. 

I have also featured a mid-century ceramic black panther, a little nod to the ‘Gippsland Panther’ myth. 

(The stories from passers-by of sighting panthers in the wild have been my favourite parts of painting this wall.) 

Photos by @karli_michelle_commercial
Paint: Resene 

Flight Paths

Flight Paths

Client: City of Kingston
Location, size and date: Elder Street South Reserve, Clarinda
43m x 3.5m and 20m x 3.5m, 2023

Commissioned by City of Kingston, this large-scale mural celebrates the natural landscape of Kingston and incorporates snow gum sprigs, hop wattle, violet happy wanderer and galahs. 

A smaller wall showcases pink common heath and a native noisy miner. 

Created for the new Elder Street South Reserve in Clarinda, this area was once a large landfill site. Careful management and rehabilitation of the land has been undertaken and today a new park and natural landscaping is open to the public. 

Botanical Corridor of the Western Plains - Sunshine Mental Health & Wellbeing Centre

Botanical Corridor of the Western Plains

Client: Western Health
Location, size and date:
Sunshine Mental Health & Wellbeing Centre
St Albans
50m x 1.4m
2023

Much of the western suburbs of Melbourne are now intensely comprised of built up structures. What was once the natural eastern edge of the Western Volcanic Plains – the third largest volcanic plains in the world – is now predominantly housing, manufacturing plants and farmed grasslands. One of the defining processes of developing my concepts is researching native botanical species that are specific to the areas in which I paint, whether those species are common, endangered or extinct. In the area of Sunshine and the Western Volcanic Plains I found that there were many species of native pea flower. I wanted to showcase some of these species not only due to their soft forms and impressive colour, but because pea flowers never bloom in isolation. Stems showcase brilliant waterfalls of pea flowers when they bloom, their petite petals folding in and around each other. 

This sense of togetherness was something that I wanted to infuse into these clinical spaces, to quite literally give the feeling that no matter how one might be feeling that they are never alone and that there is a beautiful and support network surrounding whomever might be having these thoughts. 

Photography by Nicole Reed.

Scarlet honeyeater and pied cormorant - Inverloch. 

Scarlet honeyeater and pied cormorant - Inverloch. 

Client: Deerys Engineering

Inverloch, Victoria.

12 x 6.5m. July 2023

A little pied cormorant, a scarlet honeyeater, glycine pea flowers and coastal banksia foliage. The colours I chose for this piece were to give the feeling of a warm and rich coastal escape. Warm peach tones blend with cool greeny-blue hues, with a band of blur traversing the wall to represent being close to the water. Celebrating local species (including the scarlet honeyeater which is a migratory bird, travelling between Inverloch and New Caledonia annually) this ambitious mural celebrates Inverloch and the Bass Coast. 

Painted in Resene Lumbersider.

Australasian Bittern, pouched lamprey, White faced heron, Galaxia fish and Botanicals, Adelaide

Australasian Bittern, pouched lamprey, White faced heron, Galaxia fish and botanicals for Kaurna country, Adelaide, 2023

Client:City of Charles Sturt, Adelaide

River Torrens Pumping Station, Henley Beach, Adelaide South Australia

4.5 x 3m + 9m x 3m = 40 sq metres. Late May 2023

Working with the City of Charles Sturt, I was honoured to have been commissioned to create this piece on the Break Out Creek Pumping Station, where the River Torrens meets the sea at Henley Beach.

As a part of a new development to restore waterways and natural flora to re-establish biodiversity, this new mural - featuring local birds, botanicals and aquatic life - will sit alongside Kaurna sculptures, and a walking and bike path. It is also beside a sacred site allocated for the repatriation of First People’s remains once stolen, becoming a place for cultural burials.

A huge thank you to Rick for the support painting this and for the adventure, to Mark, Sarah and Max from Charles Sturt for their trust and support. As usual, amazing paint from Resene.

Sun orchids, pink bells, spider orchids, silver dollar gum and duck orchid, 2023

Night Sooty Owl - Electric Noir, 2023

Night Sooty Owl - Electric Noir, 2023

Client: Urban Canvas Mural Festival Melbourne 2023, City of Stonnington 17 - 30 April 2023. 

Windsor Station All Day Car Park, off Chapel Street Windsor. 

21.5sq meters - main wall 9.4m x 3.85 + rear wall 7m x 3.85m.

This was painted as a part of the Urban Canvas Mural Festival Melbourne where third party assets and graffiti prone areas were transformed. For my active electrical substation, a native sooty owl sits with neon tinged freesias, moody and electric in the back streets of Windsor. Painted across five days.

Eucalyptus, fig and copper for Le Meridien, 2023 

Eucalyptus, fig and copper for Le Meridien, 2023 

Client: Le Meridien, Melbourne

20 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3000

12 x 7m, March 2023

When approaching the design for the new Le Meridien hotel on Bourke Street, I wanted to bring elements of Melbourne’s botanical species to the fore, teamed with a feel of the glamour of yesteryear. 

My creative practice is driven by using colour and design to highlight flora that surrounds the areas in which I paint, creating a strong sense of place. 

By showcasing pink-tinged eucalyptus sprigs and large green fig tree leaves found at the nearby Fitzroy gardens, my aim was to transform the plain, grey outlook of many of the hotel rooms. Underpinning the design with colour and copper metallics and spanning five levels, opulence and nature were what I wanted the artwork to exude whilst also being a nod to the city’s vibrant street art culture.

Poppies, Carnations and Rosemary, Seaford 2023

Sterling Silver Herons, Diamonds and Art Deco 2023

Sterling Silver Herons, Diamonds and Art Deco 2023

Client: Claire Taylor Atelier
St George’s Road, Fitzroy North
6m x 4m
January 2023. 

This mural was commissioned by Claire Taylor for her new Atelier. It was lovely diving into the Art Deco elements that underpin my practice, and drawing inspiration from the beautiful jewellery that will be created inside. 

Magpie, Tui and Gladioli, 2023

Magpie, Tui and Gladioli, 2023

Client: Resene

Location: Resene HQ, Johnson Street Abbotsford.

9.15m x 3.4m, January 2023

Commissioned by the Resene team for their new HQ, I was honoured to create a mural that celebrated the paint company’s New Zealand heritage and their new Abbotsford location. Painted to be viewed when traversing their staircase, across two storeys.

Paint: Resene Lumbersider

Locals - Spotted Pardalote, Goldfinch, Great Egret and Botanicals 2023

‘Locals - Spotted Pardalote, European Goldfinch, Great Egret and native botanicals’, 2023, commissioned by Frankston City Council, Seaford Community Centre, Victoria.

3.8m x 30m, painted with Resene Lumbersider and Dulux Weathershield paint, January 2023.

Commissioned by Frankston City Council as a part of a Seaford Activation Precinct Project, this mural was designed to add colour and vibrancy to the busy Seaford central shopping strip, and community centre and library.

The Seaford shops run between the beach and the serene Kananook Creek, and it was while researching these environments and the species from the nearby Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands that this design was created. The spotted pardalote and great egret are natives to the area, while the European goldfinch was introduced in the late 1800s and now offer frequent sightings.

This project was interrupted a lot due to wet weather, but it was wonderful being able to finish it in the early days of 2023.

Thank you to the Frankston City Council team for all of their support, and to the people of Seaford for making this mural a dream to paint.

A huge thank you also to Steve Brown Photography for these amazing photos. It’s hard to capture!
Instagram: @steveb3199

Common Heath and Blue Gum, 2022

Common Heath and Blue Gum, 2022

Client: South Gippsland Shire Council

Shire Council Offices, Smith Street, Leongatha

5.6m x 2.8m, December 2022

Commissioned by South Gippsland Shire Council, I was engaged to create a mural for the newly renovated council offices. 
Depicting native botanicals that are endemic to the area, common heath and blue gum feature with complimentary colour and form. 
It was wonderful bringing in some colour and painterliness into the space.

Blue Mallow Flower, Lemon Myrtle and Valerian. 2022.

White Correa and Hop Bitter Pea, 2022

NSW Waratah, Port Jackson Fig and Banksia - September 2022

River Red Gum, Wattle and Leafy Templetonia - August 2022

‘Red River Gum, Wattle and Leafy Templetonia Flowers ’, 2022, commission for Zambrero Restaurant, Echuca.

The design team who were working on the new Zambrero restaurant in Echuca, invited me to design a custom mural for their space. Teaming my own artistic practice with the Zambrero design look and feel, my mural incorporates local Echuca region flora and contemporary design.

Featuring local flora ironbark eucalyptus, golden wattle, billy buttons and leafy templetonia flowers, the mural also features the Murray River in Mint, and Zambrero’s brand colours of lime, cream and charcoal.

’Red River Gum, Wattle and Leafy Templetonia Flowers,’ August, 2022, Echuca, Victoria.
Featuring Resene exterior paint, 6.3m x 3m.

Clay - Organics and Copper - July 2022

‘Clay - organics and copper’, 2022, private commission for Clay Health and Organics, Carlton,

Clay is a bustling organics grocer and store locating on popular Rathdowne Street, and the side wall had been tagged and looked a little unsightly. I was commissioned by store owner David to transform the wall using colour and produce that reflected the store’s charisma.

Using Resene copper metallics, the same colour as the original vents on the store frontage, I showcased a mix of edibles and flora: persimmons, eucalyptus, beetroot, peach, lemons and grapes. I loved being able to use colour and from to bring everything together, and also brought some of the persimmons inside as a continuation of the wall.

The whole community fell in love with the mural, and it was lovely being able to contribute something beautiful to the neighbourhood.

’Clay - organics and copper,’ July, 2022, Rathdowne Street, Carlton.
Featuring Resene exterior and metallics paint, 4.6m x 4m.

Crimson and Blue, Carlton - May 2022

‘Crimson and Blue - Carlton’, 2022, private commission, Carlton,

The side of this single fronted terrace house in Carlton North was covered in graffiti tagging after Melbourne’s lockdowns. The owners, who rented out the house to tenants, wanted to do something beautiful on their very public facing wall that also deterred future tagging.

For the composition, I used ficus elastica and wattle - both common around the Carlton area. In collaboration with the owners a crimson rosella and blue wren featured, which won the hearts of the many dog walkers and passers-by in this tight knit locale.

It was an absolute a joy to paint.

’Crimson and Blue - Carlton,’ May, 2022, MacPherson Street, Carlton.
Featuring Resene exterior paint, 4.5m x 13m.

Carinya Lodge Panels, Korumburra - Feb - April 2022

‘Don’t Forget Colour,’ multiple exterior mural panels, Carinya Lodge, 2022.

The board at Carinya Lodge, an aged care facility in Korumburra, wanted to enhance the outside space around one side of the Lodge, that had recently been renovated and featured a big, plain, grey, sloped brick wall.

Panels were built using treated timber with an alucobond surface to paint on, to ensure the panels would withstand the elements and featured across the entire 80m length.
I developed the design of the murals so that they were bright and colourful without being too overbearing, and featured botanicals and birds that are native to the area and would be familiar to residents and their families.

It took us quite a few weeks to complete these, but it was lovely being able to contribute something meaningful to the facility.

’Don’t Forget Colour’, April 2022, Carinya Lodge, Korumburra. Comprised of:
Eucalyptus Colour v1, 1.2 x 3.6m
Coastal Banksia v1, 1.2 x 3.6m
Blue Wren and Banksia Foliage, 2.4 x 3.6m
Great White Egrets and Eucalyptus, 2.4 x 3.6m
Magpie and Wattle, 2.4 x 3.6m
Coastal Banksia v2, 1.2 x 3.6m
Eucalyptus Colour v2, 1.2 x 3.6m.

Big Picture Festival Frankston - March 2022

‘Moonlighting,’ 2022, The Big Picture Festival, in collaboration with Frankston High School.

It was so lovely being asked back to work with the Frankston High School students again for the Big Picture Festival in Frankston. Natalie D’ambra (FHS Visual Art teacher) and I worked alongside six year ten students to co-design and complete our mural.

Featuring dreamy colours that we chose together and sea creatures local. to the Frankston area, the students really took on ownership of the wall and executed it beautifully.

Featuring snapper, southern sand octopus, bovichtus, moonlighter and a purple stinger jellyfish.

‘Moonlighting’, The Big Picture Festival March 2022, in collaboration with Frankston High School students, 7.5m wide x 3.2m high. Using Graphenstone paint.

A little collaborative mural with David Booth, to unify the walls we worked on with our students. David worked with Monterey Secondary for his bright characters.

‘Urban Botanical Balcony,’ 2022. Richmond/Quo-yung/Naarm.

One of the most difficult murals to photograph but one of the most transformative, it was awesome turning this plain concrete balcony into something lush and colourful.

Private commission, Richmond, Dulux Exterior Paint, 8m wide x 1m high. February, 2022.

Viminalis - Cape Paterson 2022

‘Viminalis,’ 2022, Coastal Banksia and Eucalyptus Viminalis, The Cape, Cape Paterson

The Cape is an environmentally conscious and sustainable housing development in Cape Paterson, coastal Victoria. Adapt Design Group, who commissioned this mural on the side of their home that faces a communal walking track, design homes that meet a 7.5 star + energy rating - a requirement of homes built at the Cape.
Viminalis, or the Manna Gum, is of special significance to the owners, and it was lovely tying in the colour of their colourbond with these native, monochrome botanicals. Painting onto Natural Brick Co bricks (made from recycled materials) was a dream too.

Private commission on public walkway, The Cape, Viminalis Residence, 6.59m wide x 3.2m high.

Dutch Tulip - Magnolia - Rubber Plant Opulence - December 2021

‘Dutch Tulip - Magnolia - Rubber Plant Opulence,’ 2021, Private Commission, Tarneit Victoria.

This client wanted something opulent and beautiful for the main wall of their home theatre room. I designed this piece so that it would captivate whether the room was light or in darkness, using plants that I feel are luscious and beautiful. (I’ve also been watching The Great lately and wanted to paint something decadent and fit for palace decor.)

Private Commission, Tarneit Residence 2021, 160cm high x 300cm wide.

Past and Present - Landscape - December 2021

‘Past and Present - Landscape,’ 2021, commissioned by Mirboo North and District Community Foundation in collaboration with Mirboo North Secondary College.

This mural was commissioned by the Mirboo North and District Community Foundation to work with four students from Mirboo North Secondary College to transform this prominent wall in the main street of town. The wall had a colonial bush mural painted on it from the 90s that was fading, so I kept a circular segment of the old mural (without colonial reference) and used other elements of the surrounding landscape to depict on the wall and bring it into the contemporary realm - scarlet robin, Mirboo lily, Gippsland waratah and corymbia eucalyptus. I painted the Scarlet Robin and the shading on all of the leaves, and assisted the four secondary college students to paint the rest of the wall. Jobeka, Lily, Jett and Morgan did an incredible job over the course of five days.

‘Past and Present - Landscape, 2021, 4.2m high x 6.4m wide, Ridgway, Mirboo North. Thank you to SAFE Scaffold for site access.

Mediterranean Modern - November 2021

‘Mediterranean Modern,’ 2021, Anchor Restaurant, Elwood 2021.

It’s hard these days to find a point of difference, especially in the hospitality industry. Rosalin and Oliver, however, had an ambitious dream when opening their latest venture, fine dining restaurant Anchor in Elwood. Part of their point of difference was stylishly celebrating the wholesome elements of Mediterranean cooking, and they commissioned me to paint a mural in their space that was warm, stylish, contemporary and inviting.

Using a soft mediterranean inspired colour palette, I depicted sage, rosemary and olive sprigs. And it’ one of my favourite murals so far.

'Mediterranean Modern,’ 2021, Anchor, Ormond Road, Elwood, Victoria.
2.4 x 4m meters, using Dulux Exterior Paint and gold.

Big Picture Festival Frankston - March 2021

‘Coastal and Urban - Frankston’ 2021, Big Picture Festival 2021, Thompson Lane, Frankston, in collaboration with Frankston High School. March 15 - 21 2021.

I was both proud and excited to be selected as a facilitating mural artist for Frankston’s Big Picture Festival 2021, working with twenty 15-16 year olds from Frankston High School.

In the lead up to our big painting week I facilitated three, three hour workshops with the High School students, supported by art teacher Natalie D’Ambra. During these workshops we talked about the mural painting process, played with colour and shape and thought about how colour and form can create a narrative. The final mural design was created by using the student’s colour collages, and then thinking about what encapsulated Frankston and its position as both a coastal and an urban city. A Pelican and Ibis felt apt!

Natalie and I drew up the line work for the mural the day prior to painting, and over the course of the five days the 20 students came on site to pull the mural together. It was such a wonderful experience for everyone, and seeing the teenagers front up and bring their talents was really humbling and inspiring. This mural is definitely theirs - all 13 meters of it!

'Coastal and Urban - Frankston,’ 2021, Big Picture Festival, Thompson Lane, Frankston, in collaboration with Frankston High School.
3.1 x 13 meters, using Dulux Exterior Paint.

Heron, Wattle Et Al, Leongatha - September 2021

‘Heron, Wattle Et Al,’ 2021, Leongatha Health Hub - Private Commission, Leongatha

Commissioned by the new Leongatha Health Hub, I was engaged to create a welcoming and sophisticated addition to their new office and practitioner space. Using bird life from the area - white faced heron, magpie and galah - and juxtaposed with colour and botanicals, this space went from being stark white to warm and intriguing.

‘Heron, Wattle Et Al,’ multiple dimensions, Leongatha Health Hub, using Dulux Exterior paint.

Coastal Banksia Mural, Leongatha - August 2020