https://lesm48.wordpress.com/watercolours-and-oils-based-on-tropical-flowers/

The following watercolour/gouache/conte studies were produced during a month long residency at Cairns Botanical Gardens/Tanks Arts Centre during Nov-Dec 2014. The theme Tropica was appropriated from the title of a book on exotic plants in the Friend’s library at the gardens-it represented tropical plants and often used photographs of the local people wearing or holding plants in a manner reminiscent of early colonial anthropology and photography. My other research looked at the early plant hunters and botanical classification and I collected specimens from the gardens, went bird watching, completed drawings and took many photos-the small studies were completed back in the studio. While in Cairns I read Amitav Ghosh’s the The Glass Palace and the even better The Hungry Tide-this follows a few books on the history of the East India Company-it goes without saying my interest in colonial history and post-colonial writing has been an influence on my image making.