Botanicals Up Close

The joint exhibition of Lisa Stewart and Maria Shaw came about with the admiration for each others artwork and being inspired by nature. Lisa Stewart Lisa’s part of the exhibition is inspired by Herbariums and her fascination on the early documentation of plant species. Herbarium specimens are always accompanied by a label that indicates the location where the plant was growing, the collector and the date collected. Often the label also includes information about the appearance of the plant and the context or habitat where it was found. Each herbarium specimen is assigned a unique accession number, which functions like the catalog number of a book in a library. Typically, the plants are flattened dried and mounted on uniformly sized, archival paper. Maria Shaw Microscopic view: This mini-series was inspired by Greg Daly, during a workshop Maria attended at Strathnairn Arts in Canberra. During his glaze workshop he introduced her to a new way of observing the world and her muses. He shared the idea of using view finders, a piece of paper with a silhouette of a shape cut out. Monochrome local flora and Vessels: She learnt ceramic illustrations from Mirra Whale using underglaze. She was interested in capturing the beauty of the botanic treasure she has found and been gifted. Maria’s botanical collection decorates her pottery studio.