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Tree hollows are animal homes
‘Tree hollows are animal homes’ is a new series of designs inspired by the relationship between the many Australian animal species that use hollows and the trees that provide them. This first set of 5 designs includes illustrations of 19 animal species that use...
The Satin Bowerbird
This issue of A cartoon guide to Australian Ecology explores the life of the Satin Bowerbird in a series of cartoons. The Satin Bowerbird has many Australian Aboriginal names, but I've used the Yugambeh name 'Dooloom' here, only because I live on the Country of the...
Australian forests and where to find them
That’s me, in the orange bus. It’s the 1970’s, this bus is our family campervan, and we’re driving through wet sclerophyll forest north of Healesville, in Victoria.
Welcome to the first issue of A Cartoon Guide to Australian Ecology: Australian forests and where to find them (Part One). In this blog series I’ll explore ecological patterns and processes big and small, using science and my own personal journey to tell the story, all through the visual language of cartoons.
Let’s get started!
Nature journaling Shakespeare’s plants
I'm very excited to announce 'Nature Journaling Shakespeare's Plants', four school holiday sessions for ages 8 to 16 years, at the lovely Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha. Discover and record some of Shakespeare’s favourite plants by creating your own nature...
Unleash your creativity with this simple handmade book
A simple concertina book can be a great way to record your next holiday, road trip or nature journaling adventure.
I’ve also found that simple concertina books can unlock inspiration in kids and adults when a flat blank journal page may be too daunting or dull. Perhaps it’s the tactile nature of these books, the way that people tend to open and close them, and look at them from all angles, that stimulates different neural pathways in the brain.
A simple concertina book is essentially just a strip of robust paper (high GSM watercolour paper or mixed media paper works well) that is folded to form multiple small pages. But it feels like a little book, that unfolds alluringly, to tell a story….
Why do I self-publish?
“It’s a book to be shared and taken into your soul!” – Amanda
That’s a reader’s impression of my most recent book ‘A walk in the mountain forests’, sent to me this morning via email. Thanks Amanda!
I offered the manuscript of ‘A walk in the mountain forests’ to four major publishers, and all four rejected it. Then I found an Australian company who could print it at a price I could afford (that’s Fast Press Print in Nerang, Qld), and I went ahead and published it myself. Now this little book is bringing joy to many readers, and sharing the wonders of nature with others gives me a great deal of joy and satisfaction too.
Hooray: ‘A walk in the mountain forests’ is here!
I’m really pleased to announce that my new book A walk in the mountain forests is now in stock. It’s my tenth self-published book and is a rare thing in Australian publishing: a nature journal about Australian places, created in contemporary times. I hope you enjoy it.
Create your own garden journal
Bring further joy and depth to your gardening by creating your own garden journal. This year, thanks to the sponsorship of Brisbane City Council, I'll be leading a series of free nature journaling workshops for gardeners. The venue is the lovely 'Kitchen in the...
Free Dynamic Lagoons colouring book to download
I’m thrilled to announce a new colouring book about Australian wildlife. Dynamic Lagoons: Colour the world of the upland wetlands celebrates the wonderful ‘Upland wetlands of the drainage divide of the New England Tableland Bioregion’ an ecosystem that is listed as threatened at State and National level.
A walk in the mountain forests – Pre-orders now open!
A walk in the mountain forests - What is this book? I’m not sure how to describe A walk in the mountain forests. My previous books were relatively easy to pitch: Here’s a book that you colour-in, here’s an introduction to nature journaling, here’s a kid’s...
Marine and coastal wonders of Woollongong / Dharawal land
The tote bag design for the ESA's 2022 conference - inspired by some coastal and marine plants and animals of New South Wales, and Dharawal country in particular. I was really grateful to be asked once again by the Ecological Society of Australia to create a...
New ‘Gondwana Rainforest Birds’ tea towel design
The new Gondwana Rainforest Birds tea towel design has just landed in the Paperbark Writer store. It features close-up ‘portraits’ of 15 native birds species found in the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area that spans parts of south east Queensland and north east...
Tales of Science
The Rainforest Ball
How did the rainforest trees find which animals could carry their seeds far and wide? By inviting everyone to The Rainforest Ball, of course! A story to celebrate National Tree Day, from my book ‘Stories from the Wildworld’.
Return of the bellbirds?
Bellbirds are cute, they make beautiful chiming noises, but they also kill trees. And now they’re back at Binna Burra, after a long absence. What will happen next?
How do you describe a fig?
With pen and pencils, I try to catch glimpses of the world of a strangler fig. And of the people who are studying them.
Damning report into threatened species conservation in Queensland
I rarely get political on this blog, but what follows is an important part of my story, and of the struggle we're in to try to save threatened species in Queensland. A few years ago I resigned from my job in the Threatened Species Unit of the Queensland Government out...
Drawing on Queensland’s present to recreate New Zealand’s past
This story starts and ends with a duck. It also includes volcanoes, subtropical rainforest, an idyllic lake and a team of dedicated scientists. But let’s begin with the duck. I met the duck in Germany, in 2008. The lovely Ray, my palaeobotanist partner, was...
She didn’t need much.
She didn’t need much. While I was busy with my own small worries, my own daily life, this last two years, she was just quietly getting on with her own. I didn’t know it, but she was less than a kilometre from where I live, maybe a lot closer than that. For there are...
Nature journaling
Hooray: ‘A walk in the mountain forests’ is here!
I’m really pleased to announce that my new book A walk in the mountain forests is now in stock. It’s my tenth self-published book and is a rare thing in Australian publishing: a nature journal about Australian places, created in contemporary times. I hope you enjoy it.
Create your own garden journal
Bring further joy and depth to your gardening by creating your own garden journal. This year, thanks to the sponsorship of Brisbane City Council, I'll be leading a series of free nature journaling workshops for gardeners. The venue is the lovely 'Kitchen in the...
A drawing is more than a photo
How it all started. I saw a pair of peregrine falcons mating, and was compelled to jot down the sighting in a very simple way. A few weeks ago I started a daily drawing practice. Although I didn't realise it at the time. I just happened upon a pair of peregrine...
A new nature journal for the Taronga Western Plains Zoo!
The lovely Kelly Pfeiffer - whose encouragement was instrumental for the publication of my previous book Take this Book for a Walk in 2020 - recently commissioned me to create a nature journaling resource for Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales. I...
Recent journal pages, and why a fountain pen is my new best friend
Ink sketch created with TWSBI eco pens I love drawing with ink for many reasons (see note below for more details). But the disposable nature of many ink pens has never felt good to me. I enjoy drawing with dip pens, but their nibs have to be cleaned and replaced...
A Tale of Three Scrubwrens
Australia has an enormous variety of little brown birds. Some of these are scrubwrens, of the genus Sericornis (The name ‘Sericornis’ refers to the soft, silky plumage of these birds). Three species of Sericornis live in the forests of Lamington National Park, near my...
Forest portraits
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Cartoons
Beechmont Nature Journal 14th September 2019
A cartoon about last weekend’s unprecedented fire at Binna Burra. It’s wobbly because that’s how I feel right now. But all around our house the birds are singing and I heard a koala bellow just before I posted this. So life goes on, and I’m hopeful for the future.
Return of the bellbirds?
Bellbirds are cute, they make beautiful chiming noises, but they also kill trees. And now they’re back at Binna Burra, after a long absence. What will happen next?
Read moreSea creatures really don’t like the plastic waste that ends up in their home. You can help by saying ‘no’ to bottled water, and drinking tap water from a reusable bottle instead. This cartoon can be shared and reproduced from non-commercial purposes that benefit wildlife. You can also save and print the free colouring page…
Sea creatures love reusable bottles — Wildworld Books
Hello and Happy New Year! This summer I’ve been mucking about with cartooning, and have started to create and add ‘Help the Wildworld’ cartoons to my Wildworld Books website. The Wildworld Books website sprouted when I published Stories of the Wildworld and will...
Wildlife illustration
Marine and coastal wonders of Woollongong / Dharawal land
The tote bag design for the ESA's 2022 conference - inspired by some coastal and marine plants and animals of New South Wales, and Dharawal country in particular. I was really grateful to be asked once again by the Ecological Society of Australia to create a...
New ‘Gondwana Rainforest Birds’ tea towel design
The new Gondwana Rainforest Birds tea towel design has just landed in the Paperbark Writer store. It features close-up ‘portraits’ of 15 native birds species found in the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area that spans parts of south east Queensland and north east...
A drawing is more than a photo
How it all started. I saw a pair of peregrine falcons mating, and was compelled to jot down the sighting in a very simple way. A few weeks ago I started a daily drawing practice. Although I didn't realise it at the time. I just happened upon a pair of peregrine...
Free grassy woodland colouring book to download
Wondrous Box-Gum Grassy Woodlands: A colouring exploration of a diverse ecosystem celebrates the threatened ecological community of the same name. This book was commissioned by the Molonglo Conservation Group, with the support of the ACT Government and National...
Free colour-in sheet: Small rainforest birds
This colour-in page features some small birds that hang out in the rainforest where I live. Plus a cuckoo waiting to lay its eggs in their nest when it gets a chance. The plant is Neolitsea dealbata, also called 'Doe's Ears'. Can you see why? Download the high...
Free froggy colouring book to download
Follow the Southern Bell Frog’s journey, from tiny egg, to tadpole, to a young frog, in this beautiful colouring book. Yours to download for free!