"Just Me, Living My Best Life" Original Artwork by Sandra Gale

What it holds

A seagull stands amongst golden grasses and patterned rocks, looking out across beautiful turquoise water towards the green hills on the other side.

Surrounding the view is a big, bold red border, almost completely taken over by enormous pink and coral flowers, trailing green leaves and little turquoise scallops.

The landscape is loose and painterly, while the flowers are wonderfully oversized, with all their sharp paper edges and playful details.

And there, amongst all those fabulous flowers, is our little seagull, perfectly happy just doing her own thing.

Story & inspiration

This artwork is a mashup of some of my favourite places I've explored on my travels.

I love walking near the water, and I'm forever stopping to admire the views and say hello to the birds along the way.

There's a bit of Noosa, Broken Head near Byron Bay, some of the beautiful lakeside scenery from my travels through Victoria, and even a little of South Australia's Yorke Peninsula.

It's not a particular place you can visit. It's more a collection of those beautiful little glimpses I've enjoyed while out exploring.

Creating this one was quite a challenge!

Working at this larger scale with the painted paper collage meant I had to be really careful about the order of all the layers. Once the paper is glued down, there's not much room for changing my mind!

I also pushed myself with the landscape, painting the water and distant hills in a much looser, more abstract style than the flowers and foreground.

I love the contrast between the painterly water and those crisp, colourful paper shapes.

And I particularly love how the border has become such an important part of the artwork. The flowers and leaves are almost bursting beyond its edges, while the seagull has found herself a lovely spot amongst the grasses.

Where it lives best

At just over a metre tall when framed, Just Me, Living My Best Life would make a fabulous statement in an entrance hall, perhaps hanging above a console table where it's one of the first things you see when you walk through the door.

I can also imagine it looking beautiful in a coastal dining room, bringing together the colours of the sea with all those big, joyful flowers.

Or hang it in a family room where there's plenty of opportunity for someone to wander over, spot the seagull and start a conversation.

There's a whole little world to explore in this one!