But most of those memories are far from glamorous, even though the local artist was raised in central Queensland.

“Queensland is not like what you see in the tourism brochures,” Andersen said.

“I wouldn’t call (my childhood) a sheltered existence. There was life and death right there in front of me and there was a lot of bad things that happened in my town.”

Andersen remembers the day her school bus crashed and left a girl with permanent brain damage, the day her mother’s hunting dogs brought home a kangaroo carcass and tore it to shreds, the day her beloved pet peacock was mauled to death by a dingo and the day the town’s famous Ford-lover was in a fatal accident.

Her debut solo exhibition, ironically named Paradise, takes these moments from her life and many more, and depicts them through art.

She said her acrylic works were confronting but humorous and showcased the reality of outback Queensland – death, obesity, racism and socio-economic issues.

“Everything I paint is based on a story or particular event or situation from my life,” Andersen said.

“At the moment I’m inspired by showing my friends the Australia they don’t know. I really wanted to show them the real Queensland.”

As a landscape architect, Andersen has been an artist all her life. The 31-year-old studied a bachelor of design at Queensland University of Technology and is currently completing a bachelor of arts (art history) at Griffith University.

But it was only recently she decided to give up her day job and focus wholeheartedly on her passion for art.

Having had numerous group exhibitions in Ballarat and beyond, and having been named a finalist in the 2015 Outback Open Art Prize, she said she was looking forward to seeing what people thought of her artwork.

“It has been very therapeutic for me because all these experiences have been playing around in my mind all the time,” she said.

Paradise will be on show at Fairbanks Eye Gallery until January 8. Visit www.jessicaandersenart.com