Where the bush comes alive after dark. Briefly. Lit for a second. Gone.
The Story
The first collection, Nightlife, started at my daughter’s place in Brisbane. A mother and baby ringtail possums, held in a towel, wide-eyed in the torchlight.
That moment became the whole collection, really. Australia’s night animals, the way you actually meet them. Not posed. Not over-thought. Just caught in a flash of torchlight before they disappear back into the shadows. I did not go looking for that possum. It found me, and it stayed with me long after that Brisbane night was over.
I took that energy back to the studio and let my instinct take over. Every piece starts the same way: the whole surface goes dark. Then I carve the subject out with light. Whatever the light doesn’t reach stays dark. I call it Active Void. The dark is doing half the work. It is a method I arrived at by feel, not by plan, and thirty years of working as a designer before I picked up a paintbrush taught me the same lesson twice over: what you leave out matters as much as what you put in.
Meet the after-hours crew
Each piece is A3 acrylic on textured paper, built from black gesso, chalk sketches, and pure white acrylic layered up with a dry brush. Raw. Minimal. And just cheeky enough to make you smile.
Here is who you will meet in the Nightlife collection:
- 🦘 Plus One (Kangaroo) – The stoic guardian of the bush.
- 🐨 Branch Manager (Koala) – 5pm has never looked more attractive.
- 🦉 Night Shift (Barn Owl) – Silent, sharp, and always watching.
- 🦎 All Talker (Frilled-neck Lizard) – Big personality. Bigger frill. Heart of gold.
- 🦇 Hang Ten (Flying Fox) – The original night surfer.
- 🐸 Rent Free (Frog) – The cheeky late-night housemate you didn’t ask for.
- 🐾 Roof Access (Ringtail Possum) – The elusive rooftop explorer.
Where they belong
These pieces are designed to feel like they belong in your space. Haunting enough to catch your eye. Honest enough to feel real. And just cheeky enough to remind you not to take life too seriously. Seven pieces, seven small moments of the night, all built the same way: dark first, then light, then whatever the light happens to catch.
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Take the stories deeper
Every animal in this collection has its own story, its own studio session, its own reason for making the cut. You can read the full piece-by-piece breakdown, along with the wider ideas behind the Active Void technique, on the Nightlife Collection page.
