You can't take a piece of the Great Barrier Reef home with you. It's illegal, it's harmful, and honestly, it would be wrong. But what if you could? What if a fragment of coral, in a little jar, could sit on your shelf and remind you of one of the most extraordinary places on earth?
That's the idea behind my Coral Keepsakes — small original watercolor paintings of coral in a jar. A piece of the reef you can actually take home.
Where the Idea Came From
I've always been drawn to the reef — its colours, its strangeness, the way it exists in a world completely apart from our own. When I started painting from my travel photos, coral kept appearing in my work. But I wanted to understand it better. Not just as a visual subject, but as a living thing.
So I went to a coral frag nursery — a place that grows coral fragments as part of reef restoration research. I wanted to see coral up close, out of the water, in all its intricate detail. The shapes, the textures, the way light catches the tiny structures. It was one of the most fascinating research trips I've done, and it completely changed how I paint coral.
Painting Coral in a Jar
The Coral Keepsake paintings are small original artworks — each one a watercolor of coral nestled inside a glass jar. The jar is the conceit: a way of imagining that you could preserve a piece of the reef, keep it close, take it with you.
Each painting is done by hand, in watercolor, with the kind of detail that only comes from really looking. The coral isn't generic — it's painted from observation, from research, from time spent understanding what coral actually looks like and how it grows. These are not decorative illustrations. They're small, considered works of art.
And they sell. People connect with the idea immediately — the combination of something beautiful, something meaningful, and something you can actually own.
A Unique Australian Art Gift
The Coral Keepsakes make wonderful gifts for anyone who loves the Great Barrier Reef, Australian marine life, or simply beautiful, original art. They're small enough to display anywhere — a desk, a shelf, a windowsill — and personal enough to feel genuinely special.
Unlike a postcard, these are original paintings. One of a kind. Once they're gone, they're gone.
If you've ever stood at the edge of the reef and wished you could bring a little of it home — now you can.
Browse the Coral Keepsake original paintings in the shop, alongside my full collection of hand-painted Australian travel postcards.