Two local artist are exploring flora and fauna in their joint exhibition ‘Inception’ to be held this month at the Ipswich Community Gallery in Darcy Doyle Place.

Members of the Ipswich Arts Society, Kate Douglas and Dario Zanesco are exhibiting work with a complementary style, depicting local flora and international fauna.

The exhibition showcases more than 12 months of work by the two artists. More than 30 pieces will be on show.

Kate has spent the last four years exhibiting her work and said she gained inspiration wandering the banks of the Bremer River. The result is a body of work which depicts “gnarled old trees, gentle riverscapes and flora studies.”

Kate’s work is a mixture of acrylic painting and drawing, all demonstrating her fondness for high contrast and interesting composition.

She said the paintings are dual purpose, as the subject matter focuses on environmental weeds. Despite their immense beauty she wanted to place these prevalent plants in the spotlight in a bid to raise awareness.

“I’m passionate about our waterways and although noxious weeds can be beautiful this is a juxtaposition to the dire impact they have on biodiversity”

“As standalone pieces they depict beautiful scenes of our local waterways but together they paint the picture of an environmental issue that needs to be addressed.”

Unlike Kate, Dario’s paintings allow him to analyse animals from all over the world, and he has spent hundreds of hours with his headspace immersed in far off places. His work depicts mainly birds and some African wildlife.

Dario said his work also allows him to study animals of interest.

“I’ve seen many animals in books, heard stories about, and some I haven’t seen much off at all. I’ve decided to paint them in a bid to explore them a little bit more,” he said

“I consider my artistic style to be representational and I try to be as realistic as I can with a desire to really focus on the details.”

“Some of the natural features are from my imagination, but if it looks too illustrative I find myself redoing it and getting more reference photographs.”

The exhibition opens Friday October 14 and will run until Tuesday October 18 from 10am – 4pm. The Ipswich Community Gallery is in Darcy Doyle Place, corner of Limestone and Nicholas Streets.