Size: 930 x 1200mm
 
Medium: Oil on Canvas
 
Reed flutes play as the wind blows gently through the creek bed making a song that is haunting and melodic. There is a presence of a friend here and I am happy to be in the friends company and to express the presence in the only way I know how, through paint on canvas and pen poetry.
 
There is a comfort bringing me much joy visiting the creek bed at Yarrie Station day after day for 10 days.
 
The technique is thin layers of oil paint with complex detailed patterns in earth tones running in a frieze style across the canvas indicating the ongoing stories beyond the canvas. While there was no water in the creek bed, I know that water is not far away, if you dig down.  The ripple marks on the sandy creek bed tells me the water flowed in the wet season and the presence of many crawling and flying insects in plentiful supply indicate waters presence.   The sacred knowledge held by Aboriginal people not just to find water and food in the desert but use the knowledge for caring for the land in a sustainable way is something colonial sensibilities need to appreciate.