Zahra Maarten

 
Living and working as a Botanical Artist in the Tweed Valley in northern NSW Zahra's passion has become the unique flora of the Word Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of northern NSW and southern QLD. While her primary focus is on plants that are rare and endangered from the region, other plants of particular interest are also portrayed.

Having been a 'flower painter' for many years a Botanical Art unit that she took at the Penzance School of Art (UK) in 2010 inspired her to aim at becoming a 'Botanical Artist'.

Recognising the need for further training, once back in Australia she took BASQ's Beginners' course, then the SBA (UK)'s Distance Learning Diploma course, as well as also taking individual workshops.

Zahra works with watercolours in the traditional way but also combines watercolours and graphite for more innovative techniques.

Zahra has exhibited with BASQ and from 1 December 2016—24 January 2017 had a solo exhibition in Murwillumbah titled Flowers, Ferns and Fruit: Tweed's Natural Heritage.