Creative ambitions pursued as part of Australian Antarctic Division's art fellowship program

On the windswept slopes of Macquarie Island, Maura Chamberlain is collecting plant specimens for her latest series of artworks.

"I just love producing a really beautiful portrait of the plant," the botanical illustrator said.

Halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica, the island is renowned for its prolific wildlife, including hundreds of thousands of seals, penguins and birds.

But it's also home to a variety of flora, such as mega herbs, tussock grasses, and endemic orchids, many of which have thrived in the wake of a successful pest eradication program.

"It's the most southerly plant-growing community on the globe," Ms Chamberlain said.

Until last month, her experience with sub-Antarctic species was limited to specimens kept at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens in Hobart.

Visiting Macquarie Island in May was the realisation of a long-held dream.

"You're walking through almost like rivers of grass that are at your shoulder height, and between them are penguin tracks and seal wallows," she said.

"It's so immersive and it's incredibly lush, especially on the edges down by sea level, just unbelievable.

But the island's frigid temperatures and fierce winds meant drawing in the field wasn't an option.

Instead, after walking several hours to collect specimens, Ms Chamberlain would venture back to a makeshift studio onboard the RSV Nuyina, which was anchored off the coast.

There, she would put pencil to paper in a meticulous process dating back hundreds of years.

"A lot of those early botanists and illustrators and explorers were going into areas that were completely unknown," she said.

"For someone like me who's never been into a really wild place like this, it is quite an experience.

In more recent times, photographs have often been used to document plants, but Ms Chamberlain said botanical art still played an important role.

"Botanical illustration is about trying to put down all the different features of a plant, so that if a person wants to use that illustration for identification, they can."

Arts fellowship program offers 'fantastic adventure'

Ms Chamberlain's trip to Macquarie Island was made possible through an arts fellowship program run by the Australian Antarctic Division.

The program, which has been operating for almost four decades, has allowed more than 50 artists to pursue their creative ambitions in the region.

"It's just a fantastic adventure, it really is," she said.

Ms Chamberlain, who had an official permit to take plant samples on Macquarie Island, is developing a range of artworks that will be showcased in an exhibition and book next year.

But she wasn't the only arts fellow on the RSV Nuyina's recent voyage.

Joining her was author Favel Parrett, who is working on a book about a young girl who stows away on an icebreaker.

To get a better understanding of such an experience, Ms Parrett spent hours interviewing people on board the vessel, as well as participating in many of the daily chores.

"On this voyage, there were three young women working as part of the crew," she said.

It was Ms Parrett's second Antarctic arts fellowship after previously travelling to the frozen continent more than a decade ago.

That trip led to the development of another icebreaker-inspired book, titled When the Night Comes.