What started as a single commission grew into an annual tradition spanning many years, with a ever-expanding suite of festive illustrations now woven into the fabric of Hobart's Christmas celebrations.

The brief called for the magic of Christmas in a warm, traditional style, which in practice meant the classic European vision of the season: cosy scenes, timeless festive iconography and all the trimmings. It's not quite how Christmas looks in Hobart in December, but it's how a lot of us still picture it, and there's something genuinely nostalgic and joyful in leaning into that.

We deliberately avoided snow and pine trees, weaving in Australian animals, native plants and quiet nods to the southern hemisphere summer wherever we could.