Bridget Steer - The Thorns Have Bright Pink Leaves

54cm x 64.1cm

Acrylic and house paint on canvas, framed in raw oak

"The Thorns Have Bright Pink Leaves”

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses” (‘A Tour Round My Garden,’ Alphonse Karr, 1856) Growing up, the rambling bougainvillea branches were always such a hazardous area for the cricket ball to end up in. Such gorgeous colour, such sharp thorns. Imagine my delight when our current home had an overhead arbour of bougainvillea nowhere near any possible ball sports. Now we get to enjoy the colour without the trauma. 

Bridget Steer

Bridget Steer is an emerging artist and women’s health GP living in Toowoomba (land of the Giabal, Jarowair and Jagera people). Bridget’s artworks are narrative works, using specific composition choices and often children’s toys to convey how ordinary, small moments can capture common human experiences.

Working in mostly acrylics and house paints initially acted as a practical strategy to overcome the mental barriers that can come with using “precious” materials - preventing starting, experimenting or the fear of not achieving a perfect result. However it has also become a philosophical choice to elevate the building blocks of the work, to parallel the way women’s crafts have not previously been accepted as art as they haven’t conformed to the traditional materials used by Western artists.

In 2025 Bridget was a finalist in the Art to Art Unearthed Art Prize and the Corner Store Gallery’s Inside This Box Art Prize. Bridget’s work is featured in the 2025 Australian Artist Collective x Dangerous Females Collaboration to fundraise for domestic violence charities. Bridget has been invited to exhibit at the 2026 Grammar Art Show at Toowoomba Grammar School.

A percentage of profits from each artwork sale is donated to charity.