Categories
AnneLawsonArt Artists Beckler's Botanical Bounty Botanic Art My art work

An update on the Beckler’s Botanical Bounty Project

If you have been following my blog for a while you will remember the annual trips that the Fella and I make up to Menindee, a little country town about an hour out of Broken Hill. If you are new to the blog, or have forgotten let me briefly explain.

I am part of a group of botanic artists who go up to the semi-arid area of Outback New South Wales to collect and paint the plants that were found on the Burke and Wills Expedition of 1860. Dr Hermann Beckler was the collector as well as the doctor on the Expedition. Our Project began in 2010, and the Fella and I have gone up since 2011.

You can read my posts, which will give you more detail of the Project.

The Beckler’s Botanical Bounty Project means many things to me, such as a chance to explore a very unfamiliar environment, an invaluable learning opportunity, a great way to spend time with likeminded artists, as well as being an interesting holiday!

But I know that the Project is much more than that, We have always been aware that it has a place in history. It has brought Dr Beckler’s contribution to Australian plant knowledge to the fore. We collect specimens of the plants to sit alongside Beckler’s in the National Herbarium of Victoria, and each specimen has detailed records of habitat, soil conditions, GPS location and so on. This provides current data on plants that exist in the Menindee Lakes/Kinchega National Park area, data that, when combined with Beckler’s collection, could be very useful for longitudinal studies. It is a great example of how citizen scientists can contribute to scientific knowledge.

As well, it was always our intention to have an exhibition of our paintings. That is happening in February/March/April 2018 at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Organisation for that is currently ‘full steam ahead’.

My paintings from the Cullen genus:

And my painting of Pimelea trichostaycha:

20170523_125601

Now I am asking you to consider donating to the Project. All expenses, such as the travel to and accommodation in Menindee and art supplies, have been met by individual artists, something we have been very proud to do. The Gallery is very generously helping us with expenses for the exhibition, including the catalogue, curation and scanning. However, there are some things that we would like to find some extra money for, such as future publications to put the Project in its place in Australian botanical history.

We have set up a crowd funding campaign, that will run for another 50 days. If you would be able to help us, any amount will be appreciated. To find out more jump over to the Australian Cultural Fund page. If you email me at annebags@optusnet.com.au I can send you a PDF of the campaign.

https://australianculturalfund.org.au/projects/becklers-botanical-bounty-of-menindee/

Thanks for taking the time to think about this.

*************************************************************************************

If you would like to keep up-to-date with what is happening in my art world click on the link below to sign up for my fortnightly newsletter.

I would like to find out more about Anne’s art.

Categories
anne4bags Birds My art work

Feathers, for sale

I thought that you might to look at these two feather drawings that I have just listed in my Etsy shop. Just click on the picture if you are interested in more details.

I also wanted to let you know that this month I am donating half of my sales to BirdLife Australia. Their current campaign is to protect wetland habitats that are facing threats such as reclamation projects and over-extraction of water. Wetlands are vital for birds such as the Great Knot that breed in Siberia and migrate to Australia, as well as many more species.

Feather drawings and paintings are a big part of my shop, and I like to give back to the birds that help support me. I hope to make this a nice, fat donation for the birds.

Ink feather (Photo and art work copyright: Anne Lawson 2014)
Ink feather (Photo and image copyright: Anne Lawson 2014)
IMG_9467
Original feather drawing, done in pencil (Photo and artwork copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)