Walking through the forest on the weekend, I stooped to gather maroon gum leaves admiring their colour variation. Yesterday I waxed the leaves as an experiment to see if that would preserve the colour. They feel smooth and have a slight sheen, but I'll have to wait to see if the colour remains. So now I'm thinking about what to do with the leaves, maybe something sculptural with wire - it will be fun to play around with.

Also gathered on my ramble were hardened blobs of exuded gum which has gorgeous amber hues of red or gold depending on the tree. I was hoping the process to melt down the blobs would be as simple as applying heat, but that was not the case. The gum is water soluble so I need to work out a hardener I can add, then I'll be able to make objects from the blobs.

It occurred to me that both Mindsettle and Nature Art Connect come from my love of nature. Should have been obvious I know!