The Result Of Day Dreaming In Rural Cambodia

This week I launched my new collection, Tropical Haze.

The idea for this collection began on a dirt track on the way to a pepper farm in Cambodia. Crawling along in an old taxi behind the dust of a tour bus, the road was rough and pot holed. The speed gave me time to absorb the rural scene unfolding out the side window.

Local farmers laid out harvest rice to dry on large sheets at the front of their homes, with less than a metre space to the heavily traversed road. The homes were built on stilts with deep tin awnings, creating a verandah space that was larger than the dwelling itself.

Dispersed through out the rice fields, spanning back to the distant mountains were these tall palm trees. It was a uniquely Cambodian landscape. I was captivated by the spiky pom pom topped palms and long slender trunks. With the hum of corrugated bumps lulling me into a day dream, I imagined the palm trees as giant flower stems.

Later back in Kampot on the roof top of a skinny building I watched the sunset. Just before the light faded the pastel colours of the houses and roofs illuminated with the last rays of sunshine. I wondered why back home in Australia we opt for such neutral colours for housing.

Below me on a vacant block, a tall papaya tree looked positively gorgeous, growing against a soft terracotta wall. I adore the peculiar stature and elongated fruit of this tropical plant. The trunk was marked with diamond and heart shapes with each new layer of growth and the leaves gazed out in delightful array. This was the inspiration behind the colour palette.

Tropical Haze is a collection of floral daydreams, each piece sparked by something I noticed while journeying with no agenda, other than to experience the culture, feel the rhythm of the landscape and try to unpack the art of travel when your plans have gone awry.

Created with a digital pencil, each stroke builds on the next. The drawing itself was slow, cathartic, meditative and the daily noticing liberating. I cast aside the internet vortex and with attentive exploration, created with pencil and paper, tablet and camera.

For me the artist, each work embodies an essence of my experience and carries more than can be seen.

I hope you can make your own daydreams and meander a route of calming pastels, apricot hued sunsets and soft tropical vistas. The art reflects on slow travel, savouring, lingering and appreciating delight.

You can shop the full collection here.