When local artist, Katka Adams and her husband Russell moved to Clunes in the 80s, they had no idea what to do with their 11 acres and little clue about their family connection to the region.   

“Russell’s grandfather, George Sharpe, had told us about time he’d spent in Bonalbo. He’d built a house from scratch and soon after Russell’s mum was born, they moved to Sydney,” Katka said.

“But it was only after we told George we’d bought in Clunes that we found out he was put on a train from Sydney to Eltham when he was a very young to become a farm hand at one of the new dairy’s.

“It was the early 1900s and when George’s father died young, his mum couldn’t make ends meet.

“He used to talk about how hard life was. He’d do the milking every morning barefoot because he had no shoes and he’d get frostbitten toes. When George was a bit older he got work clearing the Big Scrub.

“He called it “the scrub” like it was a menacing creature. It was something they had to get rid of so they could make way for the cows.

“He talked about clearing the land and using possum fur to keep warm. They would sew them into bedspreads and rugs to guard against the cold.

“George said they got so sick of eating eggs. Chickens were running wild and they’d lay wherever, so he’d come across these mountains of eggs in the bush,” she said.

In the 1840s, on the promise of ‘red gold’, men descended on the Big Scrub. Red cedar was in high demand for cabinetry and more than 185,000 acres between Lismore, Ballina and Byron was a virtual gold mine.

It took just a few decades for the largest area of subtropical lowland rainforest in eastern Australia to be demolished. Today, as little as 1 per cent of the Big Scrub remains.

The land clearing and the addition of exotic crops and weeds brought by the settlers, wreaked havoc on the environment.

In the early 1860s, to improve the situation and prevent squatters’ domination of the land, settlers were able to purchase freehold lots. The lots were £1 per acre, on a 25 per cent deposit with the balance to be paid within three years.

Landowners were required to live on their land and to make improvements which usually meant further clearing. Dairying became the major industry in the Northern Rivers.  

By the time Katka and Russell bought their patch of land, down the road from Eltham, it was a bunch of cleared paddocks previously used for a dairy.  

“We thought about what to do with the land for a year, Russell researched it and we decided to put the rainforest back. He’s actually planted around 2,000 Booyongs, Quandongs, Cedars and many other varieties,” Katka said.

Katka’s art studio looks over the regenerated land to the fields that Russell’s grandfather could have cleared all those years ago.

Weather Katka’s art series, It’s not common for hens to have pillows, was inspired by George’s chicken tales or her own chooks is unclear. However, it was a huge hit in the region with both the paintings and gift cards selling out in local shops and galleries.

One of the paintings in the series, A little nest is warmer than a big nest was selected for the Money Myth exhibition at the Toyota Community Spirit Gallery in Melbourne.  

“I think the series was popular in this region because it really spoke to our identity and culture.  

“We are down to earth, we love nature, animals and our community. We want the simplicity but beauty and quality is important to us as well,” she said.

Purchase Katka’s cards at the Clunes Store or through her website.