Outback Waterholes

  • 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.  
  • 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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    This painting captures my fascination of the colours, reflections, and movement in the waters of Nitmiluk Gorge, the rock faces that have witnessed many thousands of years of floods. Country watched over by the Jawoyn people and culture. As we came to the top of the first gorge, the scene emerged, the rock faces of the gorge, the distinctive nature of territory clouds all coming together.
  • The mighty Cooper Creek after all its journey spreads out into the desert plain, attracting abundant birdlife, but it is endless flat water that holds the reflection of the desert sunset. Still, quiet, harmonious, not a soul in sight.
  • 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.
  • We talk about a timeless grandeur of the Arkaroola landscape.  This scene below the dominant Bararranna Hill holds a particular fascination. It is one of the major iconic scenes along Arkaroola Creek tracing the path of the great dreaming serpent, Arkaroo. This scene projects a primeval emotion typical of the harsh and robust environment. The rock faces are sharp and steep with few trees successfully finding a crevace to set their roots. Interest in the scene is enhanced with the foreground water, and we have the curiosity of what lies around the next bend as we make our way up to the Bararranna Waterhole. There are still many questions that the landscape asks of us.
  • The mighty Cooper Creek weaves its way through the great Australian Outback. The “river” has such a certainty about it, that it is hard to see this as Burke & Wills country. How could these explorers perish with abundant food sources.  The painting is about meaning. We look to the reflections in the water and wonder what went before.
  • We talk about the timeless grandeur of the Arkaroola Landscape.  The reflections in the waterholes make places like Arkaroola like nowhere else. Arkaroola is synonymous with ancient geological ages. It is the most rugged expression of the Australian Landscape. At once powerful and untamed with a natural beauty.  According to legend, Arkaroo, the great Dreamtime serpent lived in the Gammon Ranges. He felt very thirsty, so he slithered down to the plains and drank Lake Frome dry. When he had finished, he went back to the Gammons, his body gouging out Arkaroola Creek. The waterholes represent the places that he stopped and rested.
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    We talk about the timeless grandeur of the Arkaroola Landscape.   Arkaroola is synonymous with ancient geological ages. It is the most rugged expression of the Australian Landscape. At once powerful and untamed with a natural beauty.  According to legend, Arkaroo, the great Dreamtime serpent lived in the Gammon Ranges. He felt very thirsty, so he slithered down to the plains and drank Lake Frome dry. When he had finished, he went back to the Gammons, his body gouging out Arkaroola Creek. The waterholes represent the places that he stopped and rested. Reflections in the water at the Bararranna Gorge Waterhole along Arkaroola Creek.
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