Louisa Anne Meredith (1812-1895) Robyn Glade-Wright chose to settle in Tasmania after several holiday visits from Sydney. Tasmania’s natural beauty and the cool climate were appealing qualities. Tasmania also had a vibrant arts culture that included a number of well-known practising artists and designers. Glade-Wright established a studio in Hobart producing work for exhibition and commission. Following an invitation to participate in an Arts Tasmania industries development programme Glade-Wright took up the position as textile designer in a woollen mill in Launceston.

She is currently researching modern day perceptions of natural beauty and the tragedy of extinction. Her study investigates how the loss of species from the natural world escapes much of the post-industrial world’s attention as it searches for gratification and fulfilment through the pursuit of material wealth. Exploitation of ‘wild’ natural resources invariably produces decline and extinction. This work poignantly foregrounds the recent casualties and endangered species of Tasmania. Importantly, it expresses the natural world as vulnerable, fragile and complex and urges all of us to action a compact of interdependence with nature.

Louisa Anne Meredith (1812-1895) a Tasmanian settler, wrote extensively about her life on the east coast. Her writings often mentioned concern for the natural world, specifically the fate of the black swans. Meredith’s commentary went beyond the publication of diaries and poetry. In 1884 she won an award for an image of Tasmanian wildflowers embroidered in crewel work. While Meredith celebrated the abundance, beauty and charm of Tasmanian wildflowers in crewel work. Glade-Wright, on the other hand, uses the same embroidery form to picture a different condition. Her pre-occupation with natural beauty is to state our responsibility to the preservation of flora through an unsettling portent.
 

Robyn Glade-Wright 2002