Coming to Ground: Horseshoe Falls (2018) by Niki Read

• Limited Edition of 20 prints

• Size: 56cm x 26cm (w/ white border 60cm x 32cm);

• Unframed

• Painted with the finest French Sennelier inks on Arches paper

• Painted as part of Niki's Wild Ground Artist-in-residency

• 20% profits go towards Wild Ground operational costs; the remainder goes directly to artist

• Available to the Wild Ground Community only

About the artwork:

Coming to ground: Horseshoe Falls is Wild Ground Artist-in-Resident Niki Read’s artistic response to Horseshoe Falls, Hazelbrook - one of our nature play locations for this year’s Bush Playgroup program. Niki and her four year old son visited Horseshoe Falls weekly alongside Wild Ground families during an 8-week Bush Playgroup program.

The painting is both a sensorial impression and meditative bush map of this stunning, wild playground. It reflects specific moments throughout the Wild Ground program: the transformation of particular plants throughout the changing seasons, spontaneous play of both children and adults, and the exciting animal encounters during this time - including the alluring crayfish, a favourite amongst the group. It also captures the nourishing effect of spending time in the bush with other families, the journey towards slowing down, being present and allowing spontaneous free play to lead the way.

Niki invites the Wild Ground community to participate in the ‘meditation of remembering’ these nourishing moments found in each aspect of her painting, ‘allowing them to resurface from the senses and the sound and of drinking from that cup. The ever-giving wild-ground of our beautiful and generous Mother earth.’

About Niki Read

Niki has officially joined the Wild Ground crew as our inaugural Artist-in-Resident!

Niki is an interdisciplinary artist who creates art for connection, beauty and legacy. Her current work contributes to a personal aesthetic in response to nature, society and major life experiences. She works with paint, inks, paper, canvas, pencil, found objects, collage, assemblage - both in the two and three dimensional, art books and the written word. Her strong sense of social justice has been the driving force behind her earlier art-making within community-based contexts; theatre, youth, cancer and palliative care. She also currently works in community and cultural development in end of life care and makes legacy artworks for people and their families at the end of life.

About Wild Ground Artist-in-residency

Our Artist-In-Residency Project provides opportunity for local artists to further their artistic practise alongside, and in collaboration with, Wild Ground programs. The residency promotes a symbiotic relationship between artists, Wild Ground children and the outdoor spaces of the Blue Mountains National Park.

Buying a print means that you will not only be supporting Niki to keep making her stunning art, but also contributing towards the operational cost of Wild Ground Creative Adventures. Wild Ground has been running for five years now. We are so passionate about what we do, but so much of our work is still a labour of love. We’re excited to be slowly finding sustainable and collaborative ways to expand and grow the Wild Ground love into a thriving social enterprise.

Niki, Andrea and I believe that both art-making and spending time in nature can be a transformative practice. Gifting this artwork to your children will enable you to deepen your family’s connection to our stunning Blue Mountains home.

Hang it over the fireplace as a loving and creative memory of your Wild Ground adventures splashing in the creek, listening to stories, digging in the sand and making nature art together as a family.

Get back out into the bush with your loved ones and recreate those memories using the artwork as a bush map - navigating the changing seasons, flowers and animals.

Use it as a conversation piece to remind each other to slow down, pause and enjoy the bush. Use it as inspiration to create your own artwork based on your time with Wild Ground Creative Adventures.