Earth Impressions: Monoprints of the Australian Bush

Do you love Australian nuts, seeds, leaves and flowers? What if you could create beautiful, naturalistic artworks—no drawing skills required? In this one-day workshop, Earth Impressions: Monoprints of the Australian Bush, you’ll explore the textures and rhythms of the Australian bush landscape through a tactile, process-driven approach to printmaking. Using wet clay, acrylic paint, and dried botanical materials, you’ll create layered monoprints that capture the structure, movement, and energy of native plants. Dates: 11 July 2026 Day/Time: Saturday, 10.00am – 4.00pm Location: NatureArt Lab, M16 Artspace, 21 Blaxland Crescent, Griffith, ACT If this course books out, please contact us if you would like to be added to a wait list for this or future classes. You’ll also discover the subtle magic of ghost prints—secondary impressions pulled from the same soft clay plate—revealing softer, unexpected layers that add depth, atmosphere, and a sense of memory to your work. The day emphasises observation, composition, experimentation, and an intuitive response to nuts and seeds—encouraging you to work freely, let go of perfection, and discover new ways of seeing. As you engage with natural forms and the soft clay surface, you’ll develop a deeper understanding of pattern, texture, and composition, and leave with a collection of unique, expressive nature-inspired artworks Course Description: A Playful Day of Abstraction: Exploring the Secret Life of Native Flowers Led by a master pastelliste, Caroline Reid, this lively and fun one-day workshop invites you to dive into the unique world of Australian native flowers—hakea, orchids, waratahs, banksias and more. We’ll explore their bold structures, hidden rhythms and wild personalities through a process-first approach to abstraction. The day begins with fun blind-drawing and mark-making warm-ups that disconnect the eye from the hand, loosening control and opening the door to spontaneity. These quirky, imperfect, wonderfully alive marks become the seeds for further exploration using coloured inks, vibrant soft pastel, black calligraphy ink and gestural Sharpie lines. As the layers build, the natural flow, form and movement of each flower begin to reveal itself in unexpected ways out of direct control. Across a series of short, energetic projects, you’ll experiment freely with mixed media—embracing line, colour, contrast, fluidity, accident and play. The workshop culminates in adding a final, luminous touch of soft pastel to bring light, energy and focus to your abstract compositions. By the end of the day, you’ll walk away with a collection of vibrant abstract works, a deeper understanding of the exciting qualities of Australian flora, and a toolkit of adventurous techniques to energise your ongoing art practice. Learning Outcomes: By the end of this workshop, you will: Develop an understanding of monoprinting techniques using wet clay plates Learn how to use Australian botanical materials to create texture, pattern, and form Gain confidence working with acrylic paint for print transfer and layering Explore the use of ghost prints to introduce softness, depth, and atmospheric layering Understand how to build compositions through repetition, variation, and negative space Experiment with a range of paper surfaces and their effect on print outcomes Strengthen skills in observation and translating natural forms into abstracted imagery Develop a more intuitive, process-led approach to artmaking Let go of perfection and embrace expressive, experimental mark-making Create a series of unique, resolved monoprint artworks inspired by the Australian bush Level of experience: Suitable for beginners and those wishing to further their practice. Materials List: All art materials provided with a separate $20 charge payable to the tutor. Bring an apron, your camera, some wet wipes and a rolling pin. About the tutor: “Love Where You Live” Caroline Reid is a contemporary landscape artist based in Canberra, on Ngunnawal Country in Australia. She draws deep inspiration from the rugged, semi-alpine terrain that surrounds her—flanked by mountain ranges to the east and west, and the Snowy Mountains to the south. Though art has always been part of her life, Caroline spent many years working in science and industry policy, leaving little time to pursue a professional art career. It was through en plein air painting that she reconnected with her creative practice, using it as a path to physical and emotional recovery, grounded in her profound care for the natural world. For Caroline, the life force in nature is endlessly restorative. She is especially drawn to the wild beauty of Kosciuszko National Park and the remote areas of Namadgi National Park. There, the movement of water and the warmth of sunlight are more than just elements—they’re the vital energies that breathe life into the landscapes she paints. Her work spans a variety of styles, from realism to impressionism to abstraction, with a particular love for soft pastel and watercolour as her mediums of choice. NatureArt Lab Awards 2022, Telstra Best of Business Award Winner for Promoting Sustainability, ACT; and National Finalist Award 2024, Telstra Best of Business Award Winner for Building Communities, ACT; and National Finalist Award 2025, Telstra Best of Business Award Finalist for Promoting Sustainability, ACT; and Finalist for Accelerating Women, ACT 2025, Awards Australia Semi-Finalist for Connecting Communities, NSW and ACT; and Semi-Finalist for Small Business Award NSW and ACT. Image credits: Caroline Reid