This artwork was inspired by an image I’d taken while walking along Bicentennial Coastal Walk from Narrabeen to Warriewood beach in Sydney. The soft yellow of the Banksia flower on a cloudless day looks fantastic when viewed against the far horizon of the ocean. Using a focal length of 210 mm and large aperture on the camera I blurred the sea with the horizon while my focus remained on the flower and the leaves.

It was the colour palate provided by the leaves of the Coastal Banksia that urged me to paint this flower. When I sketched the image onto the canvas I was captivated by the complexity of the flower but also the elegance of the surrounding leaves. I like how the damaged leaves with blotches of orange, brown and yellow add energy to the soft focus of the purple brown branches of the Banksia tree behind.

There are many coastal walks on the Northern Beaches in Sydney and a beautiful part of these walks is spotting a Coast Banksia in flower. This flower from Banksia integrifolia is just one of the four species collected at Botany Bay in 1770 by Sir Joseph Banks* , and now this artwork would make a proud addition to any home collection.

( *Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_integrifolia)