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We talk about a timeless grandeur of the Arkaroola landscape. In this work I have tried to capture the thirst of a landscape in the cycle of life. The day is beginning to warm, there is a feeling of death. And yet there is still some sign of life in the background. There is a hope that the landscape will recover, that the trees will shed their parched exterior. That is the conundrum and the cleverness of nature, that it adapts, it survives but doesn’t quite conquer.
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While the land is harsh and dry, it holds a rugged, colourful beauty. Reds, blues and purples have to be experienced to be believed. It is truly a wonderful country that Namatjira and Hermannsburg have encouraged us to share.
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East Point Reserve, Darwin
A great Australian Landscape
The tropical sunsets over Darwin are spectacular. I want to capture for the balance between the sunset and the fading light on the water, and then there is the tropical cloud with the sun departing but leaving an illuminated skyline and upper cloud. There is something special about a “graceful” Darwin sunset at East Point Reserve.
I am always looking forward to a week or two in Darwin each year to catch up with friends and a bar-be-que with on the foreshore.
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The early morning catches an interesting mood. The air is clear, the sun is bright, it is not yet hot, the day is full of promise. The light catches the awning's vivid red and the communication tower at the end of the jetty. There is some fascination with the water lapping the shore, the ripples and the shadows under the jetty.
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Palm Valley in the Finke Gorge National Park. It is close to Hermannsburg (Ntaria). The Mpulungkinya Walk takes you to the amphitheatre at the head of the valley immersed in the lands of the Western Aranda people. There is character of this fascinating landscape, water smoothed rocks that tell of vast torrents of water, and yet it exists in a pretty arid landscape. The frequent pools support the Red Cabbage Palm and those white trunked gums that the Hermannsburg school of artists have so famously represented.
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Palm Valley in the Finke Gorge National Park. It is close to Hermannsburg (Ntaria). This is the land of the Western Aranda people. There is character in this fascinating landscape; water smoothed rocks tell of vast torrents of water, and yet it exists in an arid landscape. The frequent pools support the Red Cabbage Palm, reminiscent of a previous climate, then there are the white trunked gums that the Hermannsburg school of artists have so famously represented.
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76.0 cm W x 60.8 cm H Oil on Stretched Canvas (ready to hang) June 2024 Roscoe Shelton
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40.6 cm W x 30.4 cm H Oil on Stretched Canvas (ready to hang) June 2024 Roscoe Shelton
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45.0 cm W x 45.0 cm H Oil on Stretched Canvas (ready to hang) June 2024 Roscoe Shelton