Painting South Australia: Finding Balance Between Coast, Wildlife, and Land
This is the seventh artwork in my This is Australia series, a collection that began as a personal creative break and quickly grew into something much bigger.
My connection to South Australia came through travel and moments that left a lasting impression.
Discovering South Australia on the road
My sister-in-law’s wedding was in Victor Harbor, and we road-tripped from Melbourne to get there.
Victor Harbor itself felt completely different to anywhere I had been before. Quiet, coastal, and full of character. I still remember walking across the bridge to Granite Island, the wind freezing and relentless, the ocean stretching endlessly around us. Knowing that little penguins lived there made the place feel even more special, like this tiny pocket of life at the edge of the world.
That coastline stayed with me.
It also became the reason I included the humpback whale in this piece. These waters are part of their migration path, and the thought of something so enormous and ancient moving quietly past the shoreline felt deeply connected to the identity of South Australia.
It represented the scale, the movement, and the quiet drama that exists just beyond what we can see.
The Big Galah and the art of the unexpected
One of my strongest memories of South Australia came much later, during the drive back across the country when we moved home to Queensland from Western Australia.
It was a three-day road trip. Two toddlers. Two dogs. Two exhausted adults.
Our daughter had just turned one and was teething, which meant very little sleep for anyone. We weren’t sightseeing. We were surviving. Driving as efficiently as possible, stopping only when absolutely necessary.
And then, suddenly, there it was.
The Big Galah.
Even from a quick roadside stop, it left an impression. It wasn’t just oversized for novelty. It felt sculptural. Intentional. Like a piece of public art disguised as humour. That combination of playfulness and scale felt unmistakably Australian, and it deserved its place in the composition.
Knowing a place through imagery
Some of my connection to South Australia was built through years of working as a magazine designer.
I spent nearly a decade designing 4WD magazines, laying out spreads filled with photography from across the country. The Flinders Ranges appeared often. Their ridgelines, textures, and colours became familiar through repetition, even though I had never stood there myself.
Over time, those landscapes became part of my visual memory of Australia.
Including them in this piece wasn’t about documenting personal travel. It was about acknowledging how deeply imagery can shape our understanding of place.
A quieter kind of presence
South Australia brought a different energy to the series.
It wasn’t loud. It didn’t demand attention.
It revealed itself in moments. A coastal crossing. A roadside sculpture. A photograph studied closely for hours.
Each element added another layer to the story.
You can follow the ongoing This is Australia series and see the remaining states over on Instagram at @laura.hamzic.art.
What happens next
I’ll be releasing This is Australia: South Australia as a fine art print as part of the growing collection, with plans already unfolding for future releases inspired by the series.
If you’d like to be the first to know when prints and future releases become available, you can join my email list below and I’ll keep you updated as the collection continues to evolve.