Bush Song – An Artist Book
Honouring banksias, bushfire-triggered seed release, and bushland renewal song cycles.
I have collected Banksia pods for years.
Some sit on shelves.
Some travel home in bags and pockets.
Some hold a specific day in their weight and shape.
Bush Song is an artist book that began with that long habit of collecting.
It also began with a poem.
This book speaks of love for Banksia.
It speaks of memory.
It speaks of what I notice, again and again, when I walk in bushland.
Banksia pods look quiet until they change.
With heat and fire, the follicles open.
Seed releases.
Wind and soil do the rest.
A call.
A release.
A signal that the next generation can begin.
That idea became the spine of Bush Song.
Bush Song
Bushfire’s tongue licks through
Opening beaks to seed and song
Seeds on wind’s wing
falling from the sky
carried across ash and soil
Woody cones with blackened skin
rising from fire
Charred
they tumble to the forest floor
where banksia seeds return to soil
Colophon
Papers
Cover – blind embossed Somerset Velvet Black 300gsm with magnet fastener
Text – lasercut Somerset Satin white, unprinted and lasercut and laser-engraved eco-printed printmaking papers
Structure
Pamphlet stitch binding
Edition Size – Limited variable edition of 10 plus one artist proof
Completed November 2025
