Calendar a brush with botanicals

ERIN Robinson has always enjoyed making and creating.

While a stay-at-home mum, she got back into painting, and loved experimenting with watercolours and acrylics so much that she started her own enterprise and built her own home studio.

“Artbrush is my business, and my outlet, where I sell all of my art, prints, homewares, and cards of all of my designs,” she said.

“I’ve had Artbrush for four years, and every year I’ve done a calendar, choosing a different theme.”

A fan of Australiana, Robinson has released her vibrant 2022 calendar, full of native plants and “subtle” insects.

Following a difficult year for everyone, she started this Australia in Bloom project in May, wanting to offer a “happy, light, colourful” product.

“Our Australian native botanicals really bring out all of that colour. I wanted to have a variety of colours to appeal to a lot of people, so I’ve chosen flowers that have very different structures,” she said.

“I wanted to have interesting aspects on each page, and for them to be different colours and shapes.

“I haven’t done many botanicals before, and I try to choose a theme I haven’t done because people come back to buy them each year. I love the whole process of painting a new series.”

The Artbrush calendars are available at artbrushbyerin.com, and are locally stocked by Hattie and the Wolf, and Mia and Talbot.

“The Ballarat small business and arts communities work together so well to support each other. It’s fantastic,” Robinson said.

“I thank Ballarat for their support of my business, especially for those of us who haven’t been able to do markets for the last two years.”