There is something quite magical about sunflowers. So many of my favourite memories have included sunflowers - like when I travelled along the coast of Spain, or fields of gold in the south of France and buying bunches of sunflowers with my Grandma in Poland from the local farmers market. They are such a bright and happy flower when they are in full bloom and yet so dramatic when they die. It brings me so much joy to draw them and to incorporate them in a symbolic way in my etching practice. I love to hand-paint them with watercolours and acrylic and then add just a hint of gold leaf pigment to really make them shine! Although I’m not religious, I often give a soft halo effect using ink on the etching plate to bring emphasis to certain areas and make it ‘glow’. I like to give the sunflowers a halo as I do many of my subject matters, to bring emphasis to the subject but also give it a certain angelic or religious feel to it. Maybe because we have a history of Catholicism in my family, iconography has also come through in my work. I am very interested in philosophy and religion and I feel with many of my concepts this is reflected through my motifs. They are often displayed through the little things; whether it be a personal reflection in symbols, or the colour palette, the lines and textures. Everything has meaning.

My art owes allot to sunflowers. My Babcia/Grandmother always said to save $5.00 a week to spend towards flowers - like a weekly expense! Things have definitely gone up in price thanks to what is happening in the world. But I do try to buy flowers when I get the chance!

A few weeks ago we visited Kalbar Sunflower Fields in Queensland which is about an hour and a half drive west of Brisbane. We’ve been a couple of times before but I was so excited to see the fields of happiness with my family! We even got some family photos which was sweet!

Here are a few pics of my sunflower inspiration xx