Butterflies, birds, spiders and frogs will decorate the walls of the Mackay Botanic Gardens Cafe in a new exhibit.

The theme for the Mackay Botanical Art Interest Group’s new Botanica 2021 exhibit was Fauna in the Flora, where artists roamed their gardens in search of their next muse.

The artists themselves were a confessed mixed bag, with dental therapists, teachers, retired journalists and banana growers among them.

But they all had one thing in common, a love of botany and a love of art.

Meet some of the artists.

April kerr

Ms Kerr created her piece with hot pressed paper and a millimeter brush so she said it looked like a woman’s eyeliner.

“The fun with this theme was that every time I went to see the plant, there was a new bug or bird on it, so I decided to include them all,” she said.

Madge Barnett

Ms Barnett is also an avid “bird watcher,” so her decision to recreate the magnificent red-tailed black cockatoo was inevitable.

“The red-tailed black cockatoo feeds on these tiny seeds, for such a big bird it’s just a wonder,” she said.

Margaret lane

Ms Lane chose to recreate a swamp orchid with an array of wildlife like the boat fly and the eastern dwarf tree frog.

“Everyone thinks it’s a shame that I don’t use color, but it would be another learning exercise and I really love looking at the plants,” she said.

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Pamela finger

Ms. Finger was initially at a disadvantage for the exhibition, as she lives in an apartment complex without much room for a garden.

But luckily a friend spotted one of these mammoth caterpillars and called Ms. Finger for a photo.

“The caterpillar is a Cairns butterfly, which is Australia’s largest butterfly, so it looks big next to the vine, but it’s also big,” she says.

Lisa norris

Mrs Norris chose to paint a Little Evoida with a blue Ulysses butterfly that she spotted in her garden,

“The inside of the butterfly’s wings is such a strong blue, so I just painted the brown on the outside with this little patch of color,” she says.

The exhibition will run from Tuesday May 25 to Sunday June 27.

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