watercolour on ricepaper 5x8 cm 1992

I was listening to shortwave radio. BBC world was playing Neville Shutes' 'On the Beach'. Everyone gets it in the end. It was hot and still.
Every few weeks there is a new thing available to eat. These are a grub that is inside a hard woody case that the tree grows around it.
Tied up with wire, tobacco tin wheels and internal elements of a radio. These 'tin cars' were a whole lot of fun to play with.

I looked after the goggle like eyewear for the Old Man. In the mornings the young men brought him up to sit with me and paint. He crouched over the small perfect little images. His goggles nearly touching the surface. When his head was 'banging' he stopped for a cup of tea.The Plains Bustard, or bush turkey, were wary and difficult to get close to. For good reason as they are very good to eat. Only the feet and feathers remained after people and camp dogs had their pickings.


'I am calling you'. I did this while staying with a friend in South Hedland. He had a frangipanni that shed white flowers generously. The rich green leaves and fleshy white flowers were alwyas there by the open door to welcome me.
An old bone found at the bottom of a dried well. A kangaroo must have fallen and become trapped long ago.
A collage of a band aid and watercolour. I was thinking of wounds that are raw but hidden.
'And with the night small insects count out the moments of the velvet black between the staring lights that wheel over and into dawn.' The kids played this bat to death and I painted it as its wings shrivelled in the heat.
A collage of the red desert sand, a fishhook and a dried flower. I had found the fish among many that had died when their river was cut from the sea and as the water evaporated and became more and more salty they lay twitching feebly in the shallows. The crows pecked out livers and eyes as they died.
Yalalu looked over us. In the absolute stillness of dry season nights the echo from clapping hands came ringing back across the spinnifex.
'The Forbidden Hills'; This book was sent to me from Nepal. I set myself the challenge of doing one painting a day in it. These hills are the site of a waterhole that only initiated men could go to.