Artist Corinne Loxton in her Blaxland studio. (Photo: Julie Nance)
By Julie Nance
Lower Blue Mountains artist Corinne Loxton has used daily walks in the bush, journaling and painting to help her overcome culture shock and a personal crisis, and to connect more deeply with herself and the rest of the natural world.
Key Points:
Slowing down, immersing yourself in the beauty and fragility of nature, and noticing the many small details in life around you, is a form of ‘mindfulness’ that has been shown to reduces stress and anxiety.
For Corinne, walking in the bush is a meditative, contemplative practice; one that helped her overcome a major personal crisis.
Throughout her childhood, Corinne Loxton’s daily life in Cape Town, South Africa, was anchored by Table Mountain, looming above her bedroom window. When she came to Australia at age 15, she felt displaced. It wasn’t until the landscape and sky artist moved from Sydney to the lower Blue Mountains years later that she regained a sense of belonging.
Out on the water in her little one-person boat, nature threw everything at 10-year-old Corinne: strong winds, rain and storms. She spent hours each week sailing in her hometown, with the mountain a familiar, reassuring backdrop.
“I was always immersed in the landscape, and I felt as if my day was almost determined by the mood of the mountain,” Corinne says. “I’d be very aware of the clouds, the mist, the colours. From as early as I can remember, I’ve always had a mystical relationship with nature.”
Without Table Mountain to orient her daily life in Australia, Corinne was disoriented.
“I felt this cultural shock and the foreignness of the environment; the difference in smells and colours,” she recalls. “I spent a long time living in cities – Canberra and Sydney – but I still wanted to paint landscape.”
Corinne experienced nature by looking up at the sky, creating quite abstract, colour-filled sky paintings.
Breathing Space, 2011, reflecting Corinne’s focus on the sky while living in the city. (Corinne Loxton)
After moving to Blaxland in 2012 as a single mum of three children aged 12, 7 and 5, Corinne started walking in the bush behind her home near Cripple Creek. Organically her paintings moved from the sky to capturing the ground, trees and other flora, thriving, struggling and evolving.
Watch Corinne painting in the bush behind her home, where she feels a deep connection. It’s a place that fuels her both personally and professionally
She says the “poetry of interaction with nature” nourishes her personally and strongly influences her work. Walking in the bush is essential to her practice.
“The walking, the noticing, journaling, all of those things are important to setting the groundwork for feeling centred and grounded.” – Corinne Loxton
“For instance, this morning when I went into the bush, I opened my senses to what was going on around me. I noticed my movements, my emotions and experienced what was happening around me: how loud the bees were; watching the tiny birds darting around; the shifting colours and the seeds; how the seasons cause things to change.”
Corinne painting in the bushland behind her home in November 2023. (Photo supplied)
Corinne usually walks along the same local tracks and has noticed both subtle and more dramatic changes in the landscape over the past decade. She now sees cliffs that were once hidden by trees and banksias dying and falling to the ground.
“I’m noticing the decay and the renewal and trying to make sense of that,” she says. “My work reflects the deep relationship I have with this place.”
Wisdom of Trees I, 2023: “For over 10 years I have walked past this tree in the bushlandnear my home. As though by a miracle, it emerges from a crevice in the sandstone rock and stands serenely overlooking the valley below.” (Corinne Loxton)
Corinne has carved out a successful 30-year career as a painter, supplementing her income intermittently with casual teaching in local high schools. She regularly runs evening, full day and weekend workshops in her studio.
In 2020 Corinne faced an overwhelming personal crisis which upended all aspects of her life and sent her into a “massive shame spiral”. Her paintings, usually gestural, ethereal land and skyscapes unintentionally took on a more realistic tone. Corinne found it unsettling when people began to comment that her paintings looked like photos.
In her studio the tiny brush strokes on the canvas, the increasing level of detail, helped Corinne focus and block out the negative thoughts invading her mind.
Glenbrook Lagoon had already emerged as a sacred space. During the height of Corinne’s crisis, she created a large series of paintings that spoke to human experiences of joy, hope, loss and longing.
Looking Glass, 2022: “This painting portrays a reflected world that could almost be flipped over, paralleling my search for truth, and questioning reality. Dark trees began framing and partially obscuring the landscape beyond, acting both metaphorically and visually as a barrier or line of containment.”(Corinne Loxton)
For a few months Corinne ceased painting altogether and had to slowly rebuild her crushed confidence and self-esteem. She found solace in the simple things in life: chatting with her teenage children, gardening, yoga and journaling. Every day she walked in the bush, a meditative, contemplative practice that was central to her healing.
In a TEDx Katoomba talk in June this year, Corinne spoke of the wise advice her ‘gran’ gave her as a teenager, proving to be pivotal to her recovery as an adult. Walking the cliffs of a fishing village in the western cape of South Africa, she used to stop and breathe, slow down and notice what was happening around her.
“The rocks, the lichen, the colours in the clouds, the creatures in the water or wriggling on the track. Decades before the popularisation of mindfulness, my gran showed me how to be present and bathe in nature.” – Corinne Loxton
About 11,000 kilometres as the crow flies from her hometown, Corinne remembered to stop “pushing and striving” and soak in the reality of the Blue Mountains bush. As she slowed things down her desire to paint intensified. Back in her studio she produced tiny sky paintings and tree artworks, full of detail that proved to be “restorative”.
Evensong V, 2022: Exploring little sky paintings. (Corinne Loxton)
Into & Beyond V, 2022: Part of a series of 30 x 30 cm images of densely wooded bushland. They are incredibly detailed paintings that took many days to make with tiny brushes. (Corinne Loxton)
A blend of time, nature, self-care, family, friends and painting helped restore Corinne’s sense of self and renewed her creativity. She painted recently in the open air at Glen Davis, 70 km north of Lithgow in the Capertee Valley.
“It was a wonderful, immersive experience working in the outdoors each day, with all the challenges and joys of the elements,” she says. “Being grounded in nature, tramping through valleys and over clifftops, eating smoky food around the fire and waking with the birds at first light: all this renewed my passion and revitalised my spirit.”
Glowing Cliffs, Glen Davis, 2023: A recent plein air (outdoors) painting made over a few hours. (Corinne Loxton)
Take Action:
View Corinne’s latest works at her exhibition Realms and Ranges, plein air and studio paintings in the Capertee Valley and the Blue Mountains. 10am-4pm, 2-3 December at 12 Jamison St, Blaxland.
Explore your creativity through music, dance, poetry, writing, whatever brings you joy. If you would like to try your hand at painting, check out Corinne’s workshops.
Give yourself permission to slow down and pay attention to what’s around you; the beauty in your world, even if it’s just watching an insect crawling along the footpath.
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
If you haven`t yet tried the deliciousness of Good Fat Pastry you`ll be in for a treat at the Food Security Fair on Sat 18 October! Join Michael, the creative baker producing these mouthwatering plant based (and mostly gluten free) treats for breakfast, where he will inspire you to rethink everything you know about baking:
"Baking is both borne and constrained by convention—as are our expectations. Since Ancient Egypt and Rome, eggs, dairy, and cereals have been used in baked goods for flavour and functionality. The enormity of cakes, pastries, biscuits, and desserts we know and love—and the countless we have no awareness of—have been discovered and created through spontaneity and experimentation. Almost always resting on the magical transformations of these key ingredients under heat and energy.
Yet as the realm of food is one of creativity and sensory inquisitiveness there are inherent possibilities for alternatives—in replicating the familiar as well as creating novelty. This path can follow the complexities of molecular gastronomy or the simple pragmatism of substituting with what`s on hand. Find whatever works for you."
Spaces are limited so bookings essential here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
One of the highlights of our Food Security Fair on Sat 18th October is our Weaving with Weeds workshop at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba. In this relaxing and enjoyable workshop Erin Hall will help you identify common invasive weeds that are ideal for basket making, and teach you the basic skills to weave a range of different objects. At the same time you`ll be removing and repurposing weeds that are destroying habitat for our wildlife! Places are limited so bookings essential here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
We’re thrilled to announce that tickets are now available for Ferment the Season with Holly Davis at the Blue Mountains Food Security Fair on Saturday 18th October at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba. Holly will demonstrate how to ferment the season to create more nutrient rich and digestible food. She is the co-founder of Sydney’s Iku Wholefoods and author of ‘Ferment - A Guide to the Ancient Art of Culturing Food’ and ’Nourish: Sustenance for Body and Soul”. Learn the foundational principles and several techniques for fermenting seasonally abundant produce. Fermentation increases nutrition and eating a little ferment with every meal has unlimited benefits for our overall wellbeing and the planet! Places are limited so book early here (Food Security Fair link in profile for tickets): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
Thank you to everyone who so generously contributed to our celebration of the centenary of World Animal Day, and our tribute to the life of artist, poet, author, Animal Liberation founder, and animal rights activist, Christine Townend, at the Planetary Health Centre yesterday. At a packed event we feasted on delicious plant-based food, inspiring art and poetry, and memorable conversations, as we shared our love and respect for the extraordinary world of animals of which we are a part. Join us for further celebrations at our Food Security Fair on Saturday 18 October. Register here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
We`re thrilled to announce that tickets are now on sale for our inaugural Blue Mountains Food Security Fair at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba on Saturday 18 October! Register here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
The day will include stalls, talks and demos about growing, sourcing, cooking, preserving and enjoying plant based food and protecting habitat for wildlife.
Our fabulous line up of speakers and workshop tutors includes Dr Milena Bojovic on the Future of Food; Holly Davis, co-founder of Iku and author of `Ferment`; Michael from Good Fat Pastry; Nev Sweeney from Under the Choko Tree on how to build a Solar Powered Food Dehydrator; Lloyd Sharp from Mid Blue Mountains Seed Savers; Marnee Fox from Forage to Feast; Teya Brooks Pribac from Plant Inspired; and Erin Hall on Weaving with Weeds. Stalls will include EarthRising Mushroom Farm, edible native plants, the Planetary Health Cafe and more. Each session needs to be booked individually as numbers are strictly limited.
This event is being supported by a sEEd grant from the Australian Association for Environmental Education.
This Saturday 4 Oct, on the centenary of World Animal Day, you can meet other people passionate about protecting our wild neighbours, and contribute to restoring habitat for wildlife with them, by coming along and joining our dedicated team of Planetary Health Bushcarers as we regenerate the bushland at the Planetary Health Precinct. Learn more and register to attend (1.30pm) here: (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/planetary-health-bushcare-spring-summer-2025
Woohoo! We are so thrilled. Katoomba poet David Brooks has just won the Prime Minister`s Literary Award for Poetry with his book "The Other Side of Daylight: New and Selected Poems". Come and celebrate with us this coming Saturday night when he`ll read from his work for a World Animal Day celebration at the Planetary Health Centre. Bookings here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/world-animal-day-raising-the-bar-for-nature
(apologies for dodgy screenshots ... we`ve been watching the awards streaming on YouTube tonight)
Join us next Sat 4th Oct to celebrate the exciting news that Katoomba writer David Brooks has been shortlisted for the Australian Prime Minister`s Literary Awards for his book of poetry: "The Other Side of Daylight: New and Selected Poems". It will be a night of art, poetry and delicious food as we also celebrate the centenary of World Animal Day, with David reading from his work alongside local poet Louise Wakeling, a tribute to artist, poet and founder of Animal Liberation, Christine Townend, and an Open Mic for poetry about the extraordinary species we share our world with. Bookings essential here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/world-animal-day-raising-the-bar-for-nature
With each extreme weather event more hazardous materials enter our environment and impact human and planetary health, which is why, for 2025, we’re bringing together the Australian Bushfire Building Conference and the Asbestos & Hazardous Materials Management Conference in Katoomba on 20-22 Nov, to address how we can all work together, from design to disposal, to both reduce disaster risk and the risk of hazardous materials. We urgently need to design, build and live differently, as well as better manage those hazardous materials that are already impacting our health and the health of our frontline emergency staff and volunteers.
At Full Cycle 2025 we’re bringing together leading experts to address how we can do this.
We`re thrilled to announce that Shane McArdle, Head of International Projects for the Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute (ADDRI) in Sydney, will present on local and global actions for eliminating asbestos and dust-related diseases. Shane has spent almost 10 years at the Australian Government Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency (ASEA) overseeing awareness raising and international strategies to prevent exposure to asbestos and to eliminate asbestos-related diseases.
Early bird registrations for the conference close on 7 October. You can learn more and register here (link in profile): www.fullcycleconference.com.au
The last six years have seen catastrophic and unprecedented wildfires in Australia and California. At the Full Cycle Conference on 20-22 Nov, A/Prof Owen Price will share his research which compares the patterns of housing loss in the NSW and Californian wildfires. With every fire, more hazardous materials are dispersed through the environment.
Owen has spent the past 18 years analysing empirical evidence of the effectiveness of bushfire mitigation strategies. This has included examining the effectiveness of prescribed burning, the drivers of fire spread and severity, fire suppression and house loss. He has published ~140 research papers and he is the Director of The Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires (CERMB) at the University of Wollongong. Owen is one of many leading speakers who will be joining us at Full Cycle 2025 to explore how we can reduce disaster risk and hazardous materials in a changing climate. Early Bird Registrations close on 7 October. Visit the website to learn more and register here (link in profile):
Keynote speaker Julian Cribb AM announced as anticipation builds for the inaugural Full Cycle 2025 Conference which will address some of the most critical issues of our time, and what we can do about them. Julian Cribb will speak on how we can cleanse our polluted planet and tackle the existential megathreats of the 21st century as he sets the context for the two day conference and community expo that`s a collaboration between the Australian Bushfire Building Conference, the Asbestos & Hazardous Materials Management Conference and the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative.
Co-founder of the Council for the Human Future, he has written over 9000 articles and 12 books, including How to Fix a Broken Planet, Earth Detox, Poisoned Planet, Surviving the 21st Century, The Coming Famine and Food or War. He will outline how climate change and the toxic tsunami of hazardous substances engulfing the world are two of ten megathreats that need to be addressed together and at the same time, urgently, and he’ll propose a plan for doing this.
Early Bird registrations close on Tuesday 7 October and there is still time to make a submission to be part of this seminal event. Read more about the conference and register here (link in profile): www.fullcycleconference.com.au
We had a fabulous dinner meeting last night to launch Rotarians 4 Planetary Health. It was exciting to bring together so much expertise and care for our community and the health of our planet! Initially we`ll be meeting fortnightly on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month from 6pm. If you`d like to join us register for the next meeting on Monday 13 October here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/copy-of-rotarians-4-planetary-health
Julie Nance is a community storyteller with the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative. In her coverage of the Lower Mountains area, she brings 30 years’ experience in communications, publishing and journalism.
After specialising in health and social issues as a journalist, Julie led creative teams in the government and not-for-profit sectors including the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, YMCA NSW, Cancer Council NSW and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
Julie is passionate about empowering people with quality information to help them make informed choices.
Julie Nance invited her 82-year-old mum to join her on outings in Lower Mountains parks, after months of being confined to home due to sickness. With fond memories of family picnics growing up, their quality time together in nature gave them both a much-needed lift.
