“I was looking at a wall with the shadows of a frangipani tree,” she said. “The tree was overhanging the wall. 

“I looked at them, I had been looking at them for quite a while. They are beautiful patterns and I thought I could try to use that.”

Calthorpe heads to Bali every year during Winter. She takes her art materials. 

“I got my pens and papers out and I actually pinned paper on the wall, and it’s the shadows,” she said. 

The artist had been looking for something that reflected her interest in Balinese culture on which to base work.

“I liked the scale and the shapes and shadows and I am really interested in plant life and the lush tropical life,” she said. 

“The images are taken from nature. They are stylised, not realistic, they are just about shapes, hidden. Things you can see and things you can’t see.” 

She draws on the Balinese use of colour in the 12 works on exhibition. 

“The works look a little like fabric and the Balinese are known for their fabrics,” she said. 

“Because they are on wood, the texture of the wood creates a kind of fabric effect.”

The works are on paper and are made with a block-wood printing technique. 

“The process I have used for these prints is unusual,” she said.

“It is very difficult to do long prints … it’s technically difficult. There are problems to be overcome in making long narrow prints.”

The images are carved into plywood before the printing process begins. 

“The printmaking process was a collaboration with a well known artist, and teacher at the art school, Mandy Davies,” Calthorpe said. 

“She has a custom made printing press which is made for long prints, so there is no way I could have made these prints without her.” 

Calthorpe studied at Newcastle School of Art, graduating in 2012. 

Shadows on a Wall is on now until May 14 at Acrux Gallery, 123 Tudor Street, Hamilton.