Beth grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada and has always been fond of the open plains that surrounded her as a child. She was attracted to the flat, open area of Lake George as it reminded her of her homeland. She moved to Australia in the 1970's and was deeply moved by the plight of the many endangered and extinct native animals here.

As a weaver she expressed these feelings in many ways including a series of rag rugs which were inspired by the pelts of extinct species she had seen in museums. She combined the animal skin designs with human fingerprints as a way of expressing the very hands on role she felt mankind had had in the demise of these animals.

Beth began using kangaroo skin offcuts with wool on a cotton warp to try to explore the struggle between introduced species and endangered native species. About 7 years ago she started working with traditional Aboriginal weaving methods and to create 3-dimensional objects which conveyed her interest in the development of hunting/culling practices in the Australian bush. Beth is intrigued by the paradox of the sparse beauty and pared back designs of tools and weapons, the damage they are intended to inflict and the devastation they can sometimes bring to the environment. She wove sculptures of guns, traps, etc and somehow managed to create beautiful objects out of instruments of destruction.

The title of the exhibition, Baseline, is partly a reference to the introduction into Australia of surveying, property division and ownership by the European settlers. These ideas were totally foreign to the native inhabitants and changed their world irrevocably. Sub-division and agriculture changed the landscape dramatically in a very short time.

The baseline at Lake George was used to measure out land divisions and was to alter the landscape forever. Agricultural practices since then have degraded and changed the landscape. But, some farmers are taking a new approach and it is their ideas and methods, including the reintroduction of native grasses to feed their livestock, which have inspired Beth. This is the new baseline, a reference to current regeneration practices using holistic farming methods to work with the land to help save it and the farmers livelihoods.

Beth used native grasses and introduced weeds to sculpt tools and implements used by the European settlers. She has tried to incorporate an idea of the effect that farming has on the land into these objects. Beth has managed to create pieces of simple beauty that also make a point and tell a story.