June 2020, Sallyanne Scholefield's "Home" journal by Janie O'Brien

I live in Cairns in tropical Queensland where winters here in the daytime rarely drop below  26º and summers which last from late August to end April are a steamy average of about 33º daily. This climate of course provides the perfect environment for colourful tropical plants which are everywhere your eye rests.
Large plantations form the back-bone of the City and the Fecker Botanical Gardens are world renowned and are said to be the best in our southern hemisphere. For me, the theme of "Home" was a delight to illustrate with paint & collage.

Queenslander homes abound in the older parts of Cairns evoking nostalgia for more relaxed times gone by. My work - encompassed nearly 2 portrait size A4 sheets when open. The first thing I did was to separate the ground with dark green (a mixture of acrylic ink and paint) and the sky. I then formed the mountain range with torn papers and a cut out and placed a stereotypical queenslander home. I added a few cut out palm trees and then set about sticking my tropical plants down; most flowers individually cut from Pinterest illustrations. of course a Cairns' house must have a pool, mine has a hint of the Great Barrier Reef within, as the Reef flourishes parallel to our little city as one of the biggest draw-cards in the world for sightseers to visit.

My super colourful result is almost dazzling and all plants depicted can be seen around Cairns most of the year. I hope you enjoy this representation of "my home" and that you visit our part of the world soon.