Download or read book A Brilliant Touch written by Christobel Mattingley and published by National Library Australia. This book was released on 2010 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adam Forster (1848-1928) began life as Carl Ludwig August Wiarda in East Friesland (Germany). After serving in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 as a lieutenant, he spent many years as a businessman in South Africa. From there, he migrated to Sydney, in 1891, changing his name to create a more acceptable identity to the British colony. Forster was a skilled botanical artist whose goal was to paint one thousand Australian wildflowers. To this end, on weekends, he travelled all over the Sydney region and country New South Wales to sketch and collect plant specimens.