Artist Statement - October 2016
BIG! I love painting BIG! I had to stand on a chair to paint the top third of this painting, which was hard after a long day at work! This painting is one of my children’s favourite spots. Imagine boys with too much energy and little fear, climbing up the rocks on the left bare foot and jumping into the hot soft sand at its base!
Artist Statement - October 2016
This old blue ute sat out at the rubbish dump in Kintore for many years! Many Pintupi people had stories to tell about who had owned it and where it had travelled. It became a tradition for me to go and say hello to it when I was in Kintore. Many hundreds of children have played in it and had their photos taken in it.
Each time I went out to see it, there was a little less of it there. Bones picked clean! Rusting into the landscape. Then one day I went to say hello and it was gone! Apparently a community cleanup had happened and all the old cars had been crushed and taken off in a truck. It made me very sad; the end of an era.
Artist Statement - October 2016
You could easily find a thousand things to paint in the West Macs! I like this spot because of the mix of spinifex, forest and ranges. And those couple of tiny little clouds, not much rain in them!
Artist Statement - October 2016
Walungurru is the Pintupi name for Kintore. Kintore is 550km west of Alice Springs, not far from the Western Australian border. Papunya Tula artists are there and it was the place that people dreamed of having a dialysis machine so they could get family home. I have been visiting Kintore since 1992! It is my favourite place to be. I never tire of painting this country. In this picture I wanted to capture a complex sky, full of water and both Men’s and Women’s mountains. This is some of the country that the Papunya Tula Artists paint in such a different way!
I didn’t want to overwork this canvas. I wanted to keep the transient nature of the clouds and the way the sun is lighting up parts of the hills and not other parts due to the cloud pattern. For me, it reminds me of my first trip out to Kintore all those years ago. I fell in love!
Artist Statement - October 2016
This spinifex is out by the airstrip at Kintore. It’s what you get to see if you need to do a pee while waiting for your plane! The patterns and colours of the spinifex attract me. You need to watch it though. It’s tough and spikey and it stings! With no horizon visible it becomes almost semi-abstract.
Artist Statement - October 2016
It was the patterns of the shadows from the bushes on the pans which attracted me to this scene. You are looking down the hill and across the dried out country.
Artist Statement - October 2016
Ormiston is a favourite spot on the West MacDonnell Ranges. It is different every time I visit. The country adapts quickly to any rain and the desert bursts into life to make the most of any moisture. The Range at the back of the Gorge changes colour at different times of the day and different seasons. Sometimes it’s almost violent orange. This day it was more subdued purples and pinks. I drive past Ormiston often on my way back from Mt. Liebig community. It’s a luxury if I have time to stop and visit this waterhole.
Artist Statement - October 2016
Water in the desert is so exciting! It attracts animals, insects and people! The claypans are dry most of the time, but when there is rain, everyone goes bonkers! It is always interesting to see the colour of the water, the reflections and the colour of the red dirt mixed with the water. Sometimes the water is quite choppy from the desert winds. Other times it’s like a mirror. On this day there was a bit of wind distorting the reflections.
Artist Statement - October 2016
This great hill of spinifex is near Ellery Big Hole. I get to admire it when I come back from Mt. Liebig, ‘the pretty way’ which is via Haast Bluff. If you don’t cry with the beauty of this country, then there’s something wrong with you!
Artist Statement - October 2016
This gorgeous Spinifex Hill is on the south side of ‘the Gap’ which is the entry to Alice Springs through a gap in the MacDonnell Ranges. Anyone who comes to Alice Springs from the airport or the South will see this hill. Sandi lives in a flat at the base of this hill. She’s a friend of my youngest son. The rock wallabies come down to be fed. Not a bad back garden!
Artist Statement - October 2016
This tree stands in the back yard of a house just round the corner from my place. Minding its own business. I wonder if it even gets noticed.
Artist Statement - October 2016
On the road to Pukatja, I was feeling pretty desperate that we would never get the SA government to say yes to dialysis, and there was definitely a storm coming!
Artist Statement - October 2016
Another day, another waterhole! It’s hard to explain how excited we all get after rain! It’s a nightmare in terms of logistics: wet slippery roads, risk of getting bogged, cancelled supply trucks to remote communities. But kids go swimming, people go out with their families for picnics, sometimes you can even catch a fish! I love the contrast between the desert cliffs and the water.
Artist Statement - October 2016
This year I have had the opportunity to visit Pukatja (Ernabella) a few times as part of a long battle to try to get dialysis for the community. Sometimes I am driving solo and other times I’ve had company. It is hard not to think about all the people I have got to know in Alice Springs who called this country home. These were people who had been forced to leave to access dialysis in Alice Springs. They talked about these hills all the time. It is hard to explain the spiritual and emotional trauma many Indigenous people face when forced to leave their sacred sites, their families and their hunting grounds. I am always mindful of how differently they see their country than I do. I’m looking at colours, light and form. However, I called this painting ‘Hopeful Pukatja’ as on this trip I was going with a more positive story about government support than previous trips.
Artist Statement - October 2016
This is another picture from my trip south to talk about getting people home to country on dialysis. Often there is so much to do, and people haven’t got time to be patient! They are desperate to see their loved ones again. It is great to take a bit of time just to appreciate this amazing place and watch the wind blow the clouds across the sky.
Artist Statement - October 2016
This is the hill Oopie sees every day. Not a bad place to live, despite the additional transport and essential services. He likes to avoid the humbug of town.
Artist Statement - October 2016
It was the colours that attracted me to this sky. There is also a sense of danger for me as I had to get in a small plane and fly through this sky! It took us 10 years to get dialysis in Kiwirrkurra. When I visit now I am happy to see people back home on country! Kiwirrkurra is 700km west of Alice Springs, in West Australia and the home of many fine Papunya Tula Artists.
Artist Statement - October 2016
Sometimes when you visit Ormiston it is bursting with life and water and abundance. This day the waterhole was brimming and the tadpoles nibbled my toes!
Artist Statement - October 2016
This is a sliver of Mac Ranges and sky, there’s build-up of a storm coming. This was a view of the ranges when I lived near the Gap.
Artist Statement - October 2016
This view is from a hill at the Telegraph Station looking back towards Anzac Hill, through the Town to the MacDonnell Ranges. That late afternoon the sky became more muted and the colours on the ground deepened.
Artist Statement - October 2016
Haast Bluff rises out of the desert like some relic of a dinosaur. It is spectacular and dramatic. This painting is a memory of a long day driving to Mt. Liebig and back for a meeting. The afternoon sun made the hills glow.
Artist Statement - October 2016
I drive a 57-year-old pommie car. A Morris Minor. She can’t really make it far out bush, but she can make it to the Claypans! She keeps me honest! I can’t speed, can’t go far and there’s no air-conditioning! (But I still love her... most days).
Artist Statement - October 2016
This is the view from the painting with my Morris, but looking west instead of south.
Artist Statement - October 2016
Men’s mountain is in Kintore. It changes all the time. I have seen it shine from pink to deep purple. I’ve seen clouds roll over the top and hide the whole mountain. I don’t often see it at dawn (I’m not a morning person) but I’m told that’s different again. This is a mid-arvo summer mountain!
Artist Statement - October 2016
This is me trying to get my head around different colours and shapes for Pitjantjatjara country. These little boards are great for trying to catch the essence of a place. Good fun!
Artist Statement - October 2016
Oopie lives on a block of land about 15 minutes’ drive from Alice Springs. I love dropping him home.
Artist Statement - October 2016
The country around Pukatja has similarities to the Western Desert, but subtle differences too. I have loved the opportunity to see a little bit of it this year and to talk to people on dialysis in Alice Springs about what it means to them.
Artist Statement - October 2016
This is on the drive from Ntaria (Hermannsburg) back to Alice Springs. I’ve done this journey many times for work. It never fails to impress!
Artist Statement - October 2016
I love it when you just hang about on a bit of initially unexciting bush and start to notice the nuances, the different colours, shapes and textures. You often find something unexpected: a bleached snail shell, an interesting piece of rusty metal or a long forgotten marble.
Artist Statement - October 2016
These clouds reminded me of a cartoon or children’s drawing. They added a naive charm to this little scene.
Artist Statement - October 2016
What else is there to do at the Kintore airstrip but explore the scrub?
Artist Statement - October 2016
Why would you want to be ANYWHERE else?