Benitta Harding lost her home and all her possessions in the 2011 flood in Ipswich.

“At the time I had two years of work at my place getting ready for a solo exhibition,” the 42-year-old artist recalls. 

“I was devastated and thought, ‘how I can restart again’.

“But a friend reminded me that a flood can take away your art, but it can’t take away your ability or talent to create more.”

Benitta was born in Brisbane and her family moved to Ipswich in 1994 to be closer to her grandparents.

At the age of eight she received her first pastel set.