Yorke Peninsula Alpacas with Lisa McAskill: In the Yorke Peninsula region of South Australia

The bottom end of Yorke Peninsula is a magnet for local artists especially during wild flower season when the flora of Innes National Park puts on a special show.

One artist who's fallen under the Peninsula's spell is Mark Short, a driving force behind Minlaton's Harvest Corner Visitor Information Centre. It's here that tourists can travel down the peninsula through his pastel impressions of the bottom end.

"That's Pondalowie Bay," explained Mark as he showed us one of his paintings. "It's one of the most beautiful places in the world."

You come across Mark's work in homes throughout the Peninsula and much of it has a nautical theme. He showed a painting he did for a friend.

"He wanted something to do with Port Vincent because he has a shack there. So we came up with the idea of doing two thirds under the water and one third above - it's a painting of half tide rock."

It is done in gwash, an opaque French watercolour that allows the artist to paint in subtle layers. And Mark knows the subtleties of underwater life on the Peninsula better than most. As a teacher at the Port Vincent Aquatic Centre, he spends his days instructing kids on all things nautical from snorkelling to sailing.

One thing you notice about Mark's work is his love of vibrant colours. It's been a feature of his work since he began as a props painter for the then John Martin's Christmas Pageant.

But now Mark Short is heavily involved in another iconic South Australian event, the Royal Adelaide Show where another of his passions is out there for all to see.

When not painting, teaching or diving Mark is out tending to his 40 strong alpaca flock.

"Alpaca wool is the second warmest natural fibre," said Mark. "The only other fibre is polar bear - try shearing one of those!"

At his farm, Alpacas Chaparral, just outside Minlaton Mark combines two of his passions - alpacas and painting. And given that some of his animals are worth sixty to seventy thousand dollars each, he reckons they are worth immortalising on canvas.

With each addition to the flock Mark and wife have to find a new name and inspiration has come from trips overseas when they've had time to sample some of the local beverages.

So there's Chablis, Dacquiri, Cooper, Sherry and Brandy and now another recent addition - Budweiser. Bud's mother? Well, her name's Moselle.

If you thought these creatures have a certain resemblance to the camel, you're right.

"I believe back around the Ice Age somewhere when North America and Asia were joined, the camels from South America migrated down the coast and the camels went to Africa." Said Mark.

Now this strain of what's called the South American camlet family is doing very nicely on Yorke Peninsula where Mark's alpaca products, and his paintings are on sale at the Harvest Corner Visitor Information Centre in Minlaton. It's open daily.

Harvest Corner Visitor Information Centre
29 Main St
Minlaton
Yorke Peninsula