While watching the TV series Blown Away, I fell in love with the piece of work Alexander Rosenberg made called The Disappointment of the Tropics (2018) in blown glass. The story behind it resonated with me, being born in the tropics, and when in higher latitudes missing the colour and intensity of light. I could imagine botanists trying to send samples ‘home’ only to have them arrive rotten and wilted, and to sit in the muted light. Plants and animals I take for granted would have been awe inspiring.
Wardian Cases were small portable green houses that were used to transport, and also protect delicate plants. They were used extensively to transport Australian plants back to England in the early days of English settlement. Inside the case a fragment of the tropics was held, and hopefully protected while it travelled across the world, giving a small sample without the intensity of light, the sounds and the surrounding environment that give it context.
Detail of Panels 
Front of the Case 
Back of the Case 
Cotton lining inside, repeating the print 
Inland and Reef, two bucket bags
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In response I’ve made the Joy of the Subtropics, a leather bag inspired by Wardian Cases. The print is artwork by Rachael King and it makes me feel like Brisbane in December 2021, in the middle of a wet glorious summer. The trees are all blooming, the rainbow lorikeets are raucous and the sun is intense. The black leather is kangaroo made in Australia.