DESERT DELIGHT

This piece was created for a couple we went on a trip across the Simpson Desert with. It starts with the man on the horse sculpture at Parachilna where we all met up to start the trip and stayed at a gorge across a dry riverbed at the start of the Flinders Ranges.

We went on a flight over Kati-Thanda- which is Lake Eyre. I have captured an aerial view of this and the shadow of the plane going over. The pool represents Dalhousie thermal Springs, where we swam. The gathering place in the middle is our group of 8 with the wavy lines in the circle representing good energy and good times. 

Going across the middle of the circle is the journey over all the sand dunes we crossed, with Big Red at the end. The fireworks represent the 50th birthday celebration of one of our group members whilst in the desert.

There are camel tracks, dingo tracks and emu tracks representing those we saw along the way and a small group of wild green budgies that looked like little green stars. The flowers each side underneath the gathering place represent the beautiful wildflowers that were in bloom throughout the desert. 

The hands represent a couple of accidental finger injuries, the top right is the Birdsville Pub where we stayed a couple of nights. The tree is the Bourke and Wills Dig tree that we visited. The small circles with different states on them are the two different places where we passed the border connections.

The large shed at the bottom is Cordillo Downs which is the largest of its kind in the world, built in 1883 which we marveled at. The saddle in the bottom right corner represents Pack Saddle Roadhouse where we had a great time on our way home.

91.4cm x 45.7cm Acrylic on canvas