Caldera Art, Byron Shire Fellowship 2011

This exhibition celebrates the uniquely beautiful and fragile coastal heathland of Arakwal national park in Northern NSW, particularly The Byron Bay Graminoid Clay Dwarf Heath, a critically endangered ecological community found only in Byron Bay in Northern NSW. The only remaining 2.5 acres are threatened by weed invasion, clearing, erosion and storm water run off.

The Byron Bay Dwarf Heath is a very pretty open landscape, excellent habitat for many species of nectar feeding birds such as honey-eaters and lorikeets although numerous other birds from emus to eagles are also common. Coastal heathlands are dominated by low, dense flowering shrubs no taller than 2m high, with a ground layer of sedges, lilies and grasses. The shrubs are often wind-pruned due to extreme exposure to wind and salt-spray. There are many flowering shrubs and plants throughout the Byron Bay Dwarf Heath, including some threatened species such as the Dwarf Heath Casuarina - Allocasuarina defungens, the Pink nodding orchid - Geodorum densiflorum, and the Byron Bay orchid - Diuris byronensis.

The artworks in this exhibition include both acrylic paintings and digital artworks. The digital artworks are available as unframed prints on photographic paper.