‘Where Green Gathers’ forms part of my Understory series, which grew from a month-long artist’s residency in Tasmania. During that time, I found myself looking beyond the sweeping landscapes Tasmania is known for and becoming increasingly fascinated by the smaller worlds beneath my feet.
This scene captures a forest floor where moss has spread across rocks and fallen timber, softening their forms and drawing them together into an almost continuous landscape of green. I was struck by the way something so small and easily overlooked could completely transform a place. Moss became a way for me to explore resilience and renewal – life quietly taking hold, adapting and flourishing over time.
The contrast between the vivid green foreground and the monochrome forest is deliberate. By taking colour away from the surrounding trees, I wanted the normally overlooked understory to become the focus and to give the moss an almost luminous presence.
The painting is created entirely by hand using airbrushed acrylic, slowly built through many thin layers of paint. It is a time-consuming process, but one that reflects my experience of being in the Tasmanian bush: slowing down, looking more closely, and discovering that the longer you look, the more there is to see.
Melbourne based painter Todd Simpson creates airbrushed acrylic landscapes exploring fragility and resilience in the Australian bush. Inspired by time spent in Tasmania, his recent works contrast luminous moss-covered forms against monochrome forests, using realism and atmosphere to reflect on memory, change and the quiet beauty of the natural world.
