Growing up on a farm in country Victoria, Private Keith Ross never took notice of the magpie's warble, part of the background symphony of his every day.
But after moving to Melbourne he realised how much he missed the mundane, how extraordinary the ordinary can be.
As an artist working in paints, pastels and linoprint, the emergency services worker and Army Reserve driver now captures moments of "everyday specialness" as a way to de-stress from his jobs.
"I really do it for me and if anyone else likes it, that's great. It just puts a little coin into the mental sanity piggy bank," he said.
"I'm always a coin or two short from having a breakdown from the work that I do, but it's worked so far."
One of Private Ross' pieces was exhibited during the 2025 Defending the Arts Festival, an annual event held by the ADF Creative Arts Association to showcase Defence personnel's work.
The pastel artwork Heavy is the head that wears the 381 crown is a tribute to one of his fellow drivers at the Melbourne University Regiment "who really relishes his role and he's one of those people who just gets things done", Private Ross said.
"When he saw it, he stared and said 'Oh yeah, you've really captured me'."
Private Ross describes his art as a stylised, abstracted realism.
"I try and distort things in brighter, more vivacious or out-of-life colours so that it's like, this is something that's ordinary, but wow, colours," he said.
"It's just jumping out and makes you think maybe it's not so ordinary."
The festival, held from March 10-14, comprised an exhibition, workshops and finished with a performance night. The exhibit featured 39 pieces by 20 ADF artists and included paintings, sculptures, writing and interactive art.
'Each of those artists that stood on stage put themselves out there, made themselves vulnerable, and represented their stories using that theme of storytelling.'
Artists participated in workshops covering painting, writing and music, and tours of the National Gallery of Australia and the Australian War Memorial, to inspire and expand their understanding.
The week ended with a performance night at the ADF Academy, the perfect way to finish, according to festival director and curator Major Anne-Maree Hunt.
"The performance was a mixture of vocalists, dance, poetry and musical instruments. It had a nice representation of all of them," she said.
The theme of this year's festival was storytelling.
"Each of those artists that stood on stage put themselves out there, made themselves vulnerable, and represented their stories using that theme of storytelling," Major Hunt said.
Major Hunt's children's book Mateship was also featured in the exhibit, which she wrote and illustrated last year for the Army Storytelling Competition.
It is about the different phases of mateship over the years, with instances out of every major conflict from World War 1 through to the modern day.
Major Hunt said the aim of the festival was not only to display art produced by ADF personnel, but as a way for artists to connect. It is the major annual ADF Sport carnival for the ADF Creative Arts Association (ADFCAA).
"A lot of the time we're siloed and work in isolation. There's not a lot of creative license to chat with your peers and get feedback," she said.
"This one week means we can get together and talk about each other's art, pat each other on the back and congratulate people for what they've achieved over the year."
ADFCAA president Brigadier Isaac Seidl was full of praise for the artists.
"These are but two of the many stories told during the week of Defending the Arts", he said.
"Creativity is capability. Sometimes performing as a leader requires you to lead the performance. That is exactly what we've seen this week from some outstanding artists."
