In 2021, daily walks in my hometown set in the Blue Mountains became a ritual during the 106 days of lockdown due to COVID-19. In a world which had seemingly turned upsidedown, the bush was a constant. There, the creeks still ran, the undulating mountain range stood firm, and the trees continued to stretch high into the sky. I was, as Mary Oliver writes, a “bride married to amazement” and for a little while, I would “float a little above this difficult world”.

I created this series of drawings as part of Bachelor of Fine Arts drawing unit “Book Project”. It contains a collection of watercolour and ink studies which I completed during the lockdown period, which were then paired with excepts from my favourite poems.