In May 2017 I was invited to paint at First Coat Festival alongside national and internationally renowned mural artists. I aimed to paint an original work that holds a strong reference to the areas natural environment.

Thw work shares a story on the early life cycle of the Scribbly Gum Moth (Ogmograptis Scribula). The moth Larvae mine the barks of various smooth-barked Eucalyptus species, causing zigzag patterned scribbles on the surface of the bark.

The mine consists of a sinuous, zigzag gallery that widens gradually as the larvae grow while feeding on sapwood. When the larvae are about half grown, it reverses course and mines back parallel to the old mine with an increased line width.

Chrysalis or Pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing a transformation. It is the next stage in a butterfly or moth’s evolution with pupation taking place in grey ridged cocoons within cracks of the eucalyptus bark.