This Wall

A Collaboration with Bruce Dawe

Cupid’s Shaving Brush (Emilia Sonchifolia), also known as the Tassel flower, grows quietly and widely across tropical regions. It is a plant with a rich medicinal history, yet easily overlooked beneath our feet.

Have you ever stopped to notice it? Picked it? Blown its delicate seeds into the air?

As adults, we tend to move quickly from point A to point B. I once watched my two young daughters walk the same path. They did not simply walk. They discovered. They saw creatures in cracks in the walls. They found ladybirds in the grass. Whenever they spotted a Tassel flower, they picked it and brought it to me as a gift. Those small lilac blooms would end up in a simple glass of water on the windowsill, catching the sunlight and glowing in the afternoon light.

This mural magnifies that quiet, easily missed flower to a larger-than-life scale. Framed classically and given space to breathe, it elevates the ordinary into something monumental. A young girl bends forward within the composition, holding a magnifying glass and studying the Tassel flower closely. Her posture invites us to do the same, to slow down, to look again, to rediscover curiosity.

Design Intent

This botanical mural is designed to be noticed, not walked past. It asks the viewer to pause. To become aware of what grows around us. To rediscover the small details we have trained ourselves to ignore.

Through scale, framing, and a gentle narrative, the work becomes a reminder: the unnoticed holds beauty, history, and meaning. If only we take the time to see it.