Some paintings begin with a commission, or a deadline, or a blank canvas and a plan. Chorus Line began with a phone call from Natalie's twin sister Nicole — and a damp, dark garden in Bobin, NSW, alive with sound.

In 2019, the Mid-North Coast was devastated by bushfire. The small community of Bobin lost homes, lost its local primary school, and watched the landscape it knew transformed almost beyond recognition. It was the kind of loss that takes years to absorb. But last summer, something was happening in Nicole's garden that Natalie couldn't quite believe. The Red-eyed Tree Frogs were back — not just a few, but everywhere. On the windows. On the walls. In every corner of the garden, calling from every direction after dark. A landscape that had been so badly burned was, quite simply, singing again.

Natalie went a little crazy with her camera.

Red-eyed Tree Frogs are my all-time favourite Australian frog, she says. There is something about them — those vivid red eyes, that brilliant green, the way they sit so still and then launch themselves with complete confidence — that I find endlessly captivating. Watching them come back to a landscape that had been so badly burned moved me more than I can easily put into words.

Chorus Line was painted from the photographs Natalie took on that visit to Nicole's property. The result is an artwork of vivid, jewel-bright colour — but what gives it its emotional weight is what it represents. A small frog on a leaf, calling into the dark, is one of nature's most quietly astonishing acts of resilience.

This painting holds a very special place in Natalie's heart. We think it will hold a special place in yours too.

Litoria chloris (Red-eyed Tree Frog) is native to the rainforest margins and wet sclerophyll forests of coastal eastern Australia. An indicator species for ecosystem health, their return to a recovering landscape is considered a significant sign that the bush is healing.