Laurel Foenander Laurel was born in Warragul and began painting in 1995. Since then her paintings have found their way into collections in England, Japan, Singapore, America as well as Australia wide. Being a keen gardener, a love of nature and colour are common threads in her work and she finds the immediacy of still life and flower studies a perfect contrast to the careful research needed for depicting our beautiful native birds. Laurel paints in all mediums, acrylic, oil and pastel. She finds pastel perfect for the texture of feathers, but has perfected her use of the other mediums over recent years. She loves to depict the birds in their natural habitats as well as garden and farm scenes and hopes that her work may enhance an appreciation of our unique birdlife and the importance of friendship between birds and gardeners. Laurel has exhibited successfully in many art shows and won numerous prizes.  In July-August 1998 she participated in her first major exhibition, "Artistic Vision" held at West Gippsland Art Centre. All of her fourteen paintings were sold with several more eagerly commissioned. She continues on to hold successful solo shows and to be part of many group exhibitions.