Guardians of the Tablelands: Endangered Wildlife

The Atherton Tablelands and surrounding regions of North Queensland hold some of the most unique and ancient ecosystems in Australia. Within these landscapes live creatures that exist nowhere else in the world, quietly persisting in the margins of a changing environment.

My work through Chalanni is deeply embedded in this place.

I am drawn to the animals that move through these landscapes at dawn and dusk, the bettongs moving through the bush floor, the curlews with their haunting night calls, the cassowaries that move like living relics of deep time, and the tree kangaroos that inhabit the rainforest canopy. These are not just subjects for my paintings and ceramics; they are living threads of a fragile ecological story.

The north Queensland tree kangaroo, in particular, carries a quiet presence that stays with me. Rarely seen but deeply symbolic of the rainforest canopy it calls home, it represents both resilience and vulnerability. The cassowary, powerful and ancient, is equally vital, often called the gardener of the rainforest, shaping the forest through the seeds it carries. The curlew holds a sense of ancient continuity in its call across open ground, while the bettong reflects the hidden life of the bush floor, often unseen, yet essential to ecological balance.

Through Chalanni, I aim to document and interpret these species through art. Not as scientific illustration, but as emotional record, an invitation for others to pause, notice and connect with what might otherwise go unseen.

There is a responsibility in working with these stories. As landscapes shift and habitats become more pressured, art can become a form of witnessing. A way of holding space for what exists now, before it changes further.

My practice brings together painting, pottery, and storytelling. Each medium allows a different kind of attention. Painting captures atmosphere and movement. Clay brings weight and form. Writing allows reflection and narrative. Together, they form a broader body of work that speaks to place, memory, and ecological awareness.

Chalanni is evolving into a creative record of the natural world as I experience it, anchored in the Tablelands and extended through imagination and care. It is my way of honouring the quiet, often overlooked lives that share this landscape with us.

In many ways, this work is not only about wildlife. It is about relationship between people and place, between observation and respect, between art and conservation.

And at its heart, it is about making sure these stories are not lost.

E-Book Creation

Chalanni has always been more than a collection of artworks to me. It has become a place where stories, nature, and lived experience meet, where paint and clay hold emotion, memory, and meaning.

Alongside my visual work, I’ve been quietly shaping another idea: a book.

It began with the cockatoos that visit me each day. Their intelligence, humour, and presence have always felt like a reminder that resilience in nature often looks different from what we expect. In particular, I’ve been drawn to the story of a cockatoo living with Beak and Feather Disease, a condition that weakens, but does not define.

What emerged in my mind was not a story of limitation, but of courage.

A bird who, despite adversity, continues to adapt. To persist. To find strength in a world that has changed around him. There is something profoundly human in that journey. It mirrors the quiet battles so many of us carry, grief, illness, loss, and the slow process of finding a way forward again.

This book is not just about a cockatoo. It is about fearlessness in its most unexpected form. The kind that does not roar, but endures. The kind that keeps going when life does not offer easy paths.

As I have moved through my own seasons of grief and rebuilding, I’ve found myself returning to this idea again and again: that strength is not the absence of difficulty, but the way we learn to move within it.

Chalanni has become the home for this evolving body of work, paintings, pottery, and now storytelling. Each medium holds a different part of the same conversation between nature and the inner world.

This book is still forming, as all meaningful things do. But at its heart, it is a story of a cockatoo who refuses to be defined by illness, and instead becomes a quiet symbol of courage, resilience, and the will to live fully in whatever form life allows.

And perhaps, in telling his story, I am also learning something about my own.

When Art Became a Way Through

When Ian, my husband and best friend passed away, everything familiar fell away and the world became quieter in a way that was hard to describe. In that silence, I found myself turning more deeply toward making, towards paint, clay, and the steady rhythm of creating something with my hands.

Art had always been part of my life, but grief changed its role. It became less about expression and more about presence. A way to sit with emotion without needing to explain it. In the studio, time moved differently. A brushstroke or the shaping of clay became small anchors in days that otherwise felt unsteady.

As Chalanni began to evolve, so did my practice. Painting was no longer the only language I was using. Pottery arrived as something grounding and physical, earth, water, fire, form. It brought a different kind of focus, one that asked me to slow down and be fully in the moment.

Nature has always been my refuge, and in this period it became even more central. The birds, the rainforest, and the quiet presence of wildlife around me began to find their way into both my paintings and ceramics. They carry a sense of continuity, life continuing, shifting, adapting.

Chalanni is now a reflection of that journey. It holds both the softness and the strength that come from moving through loss and gradually finding colour again. Not in a way that replaces what was lost, but in a way that honours it while still allowing something new to grow.

What began as a deeply personal process has become a creative direction that feels honest and alive. Each piece, whether painted or formed in clay, is part of that ongoing conversation between memory, nature, and healing.

Heartfelt Blogs

Inspired by the Wild Heart of Far North Queensland

Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi), Mount Hypipamee National Park on the Atherton Tablelands. Photography: Pam Ericksen | Blue Iris Studio | www.blueirisstudios.com.au

Living and creating in Far North Queensland means being surrounded by one of the world's richest natural environments. Every walk through the rainforest, every drive across the Tablelands, and every quiet moment spent observing wildlife reminds me that nature is one of the greatest artists of all.

My work is deeply influenced by the extraordinary animals that call this region home. The brilliant sulphur-crested cockatoos, agile wallabies, colourful birds, ancient rainforest plants, and unique mammals all find their way into my sketchbooks and, eventually, my finished artworks. They are not simply subjects to paint, they are neighbours that inspire wonder, curiosity, and respect.

One animal that holds a particularly special place in my heart is the Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo. Endemic to the rainforests of the Atherton Tablelands and surrounding mountain ranges, this remarkable creature spends most of its life high in the forest canopy. Quiet, elusive, and perfectly adapted to its environment, it reminds us how much of nature's beauty exists beyond our immediate view.

The future of many native species depends on protecting the rainforest habitats they rely upon. Habitat loss, climate change, and increasing pressures on our natural landscapes make conservation more important than ever. Through my artwork, I hope to encourage people to look more closely at these remarkable animals and appreciate the fragile ecosystems that support them.

Art has the unique ability to create emotional connections. A painting can inspire someone to pause, to ask questions, and to value wildlife they may never have noticed before. If my work encourages even one person to care more deeply about our native species or support their conservation, then it has achieved something meaningful.

Far North Queensland is a place unlike anywhere else on Earth. Its ancient rainforests have evolved over millions of years, creating habitats found nowhere else. Every painting I create is my way of celebrating this incredible biodiversity and honouring the wildlife that continues to inspire my creative journey.

Nature is both my teacher and my muse, and I hope my art encourages others to see the rainforest with the same sense of wonder that I experience every day.