Thank You Mr Wouter Veldhuis

Who is Wouter? He is the latest musician who has inspired me to create a new body of works. Veldhuis is a Dutch musician who’s music champions minimal drone like compositions with elements of industrial atmospherics, bass-heavy music, occasionally ambiguous, cryptic, dark, mystifying quality and at times with a hint of gloomy ambience.

The title of these two pieces of artwork below are “Once the Search is in Progress, The Something Will Be Found” #1 and #2 comes from his album, Oblique Strategies.

So far from having heard all of Wouter Veldhuis’s albums it has been the first time for me that every piece/songs of his has had a profound effect on me regarding a “visual experience'“ to interpret sound into vision.

“Once The Search is in Progress, The Something Will Be Found” #1

“Once The Search is in Progress, The Something Will Be Found” #2

In this body of works there will be a strict pattern that will be adhered to. One, must always contain an original piece of artwork, photograph or both within my chosen grid format. Whilst working on a piece I may introduce collage as well or wherever my eyes, ears and hand takes me. And then either using a scanner and/or digital editing to complete the process from sound to vision.

_ | when music blends into abstract art | _

It was Wassily Kandinsky who once said: “Form itself, even if completely abstract ... has its own inner sound.”

I get the feeling his happy with these two. But what about me… still waiting for my treats.

You can hear a small selection of Wouter Veldhuis songs here. Or a variety of his mixes for free on SOUNDCLOUD. Personally I prefer listening and working with his five albums listed below.

You can also listen on Deezer or Spotify should you desire.

"HeadLock" Andrew Garton

This artwork is another piece inspired by the music from an album (by my brother Andrew) with the same title, Headlock. It’s actually the fourth track and is 8 minutes, 19 seconds long. The rhythms and pace of this music have all influenced this work. Similar to how I pursue my artworks, I prefer to play in the present and address the sounds I hear until they make sense to me.

As I work, music is my constant companion.

“Headlock” Original artwork and digital editing.

Click on image below to view Andrew’s available music online.

How a Burnt Tree Became "The Spirit Tree"

Last year I spent a great deal of time on the trails (Wellington Park reserve) below kunanyi / Mt Wellington. The photographs taken were mainly of the many tree stumps scattered throughout the park caused either by natural environmental weather or by humans with chainsaws. Also, what grabbed my attention was just how many trees that survived the great Hobart bush fires (see video below this page) that still show their scars from that horrific historical time 1967.

The image above is of one of those trees. I saturated the image sightly then blurred the trees out on the right. This was the start of creating, the Spirit Tree.

Then whilst playing in my sandpit/studio before working on the final outcome the four-grid image below is my way of getting into the right frame of mind, a creative exercise process I have been using ever since working on this form/style/theme/motif shall we say. Then most importantly choosing the background music till completion. Most recently was introduced to the musical band Tonbruket. Albums played throughtout this process was, Forevergreens, Dig it to The End, Masters of Fog and Nubium Swimtrip.

And now below finally the end result combining artwork, photography, collage and digital techniques, “The Spirit Tree”

In just five hours 62 people would lose their lives, 900 would be injured and 7,000 left homeless. Over half a million acres would be burnt and 1,293 homes destroyed in what is now known as the Black Tuesday fires.

Watch video below, Black Tuesday - 1967 Tasmania Bushfires.

Above are the album covers on the CDs from the band Tonbruket that I played throughout the process creating “The Spirit Tree”. I played them all over and over until I was satisfied with what I wanted to achieve. Should YOU want to hear for yourself this amazing band that inspired me, go to tonbruket.bandcamp.com.

Have to thank Mr Oink here for introducing me to Tonbruket.

PORTRAIT IN A LANDSCAPE

Not sure why but have always wanted to create an artwork with this title. Below, using the method of digital pointillism are five images I created to complete this work. By squinting you can make out a portrait within the colours, except for #5. There are actually five portraits of the same sitter in this landscape.

The actual finished “Portrait in a Landscape” is the work on the right-hand side or as seen below #5. Colours were specially chosen to represent the sitter. Why sooo complicated Shane? Next question…who is the sitter? This shall remain a mystery.

Study for a Portrait in a Landscape

1st study of a portrait in a landscape.

2nd study of a portrait in a landscape.

3rd study of a portrait in a landscape.

4th study of a portrait in a landscape.

“Portrait in a Landscape” - Final artwork.

So, who is this mystery sitter. Will he do another portrait? Personally, I don’t care… still waiting for my treats you promised.

Inspired by Son of Science

… and the music by my brother Andrew, mentioned that Son of Science was inspired by the author and essayist, Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker, written in 1937.

I spent many hours listening to this CD whilst working on this piece of artwork. But it was always the last track on this 10 tracks CD that helped me to knit all the pieces together. Dare I add that when I finished working on this, I was startled (in a good way), of the end result, and heard the voice of Wassily Kandinsky, “Form itself, even if completely abstract ... has its own inner sound.”

Four panels of abstract artwork inspired by the music Son of Science.

You can hear and purchase Andrew’s music here at, Music | Andrew Garton (bandcamp.com)

Mono Print Course with Master Printer Deborah WACE

On Wed 24th August 2022 I took a PRINT, PRESS & DRAW workshop with the amazing artist Deborah Wace in nipaluna / Hobart, lutruwita / Tasmania. Deborah is known globally as a botanical artist, print maker, fabric designer and a natural historian.

We started the class by using leaves, flowers and inking them up to be our stencils, then printing them on one of her printers in the mono-print process. It was the act of the reveal that really got my creative juices to flow, asking what I can do and call truly my own. Then Deborah, near the end of the day, allowed us to fly freely with what we have learnt thus far and do our own prints using whatever we could find in her studio for mark making our beautifully black inked plates.

Below are the results I am happy to share here, two prints with the aid of small cardboard pieces, toothpicks, earbuds and other items I’ve forgotten as I became totally engrossed in staring down at my black inked plate and then waiting with anticipation, turning the wheel of the press, noting two fingers must be not overturned or…… you had to be there.

First abstract monoprint attempted in class with Deborah Wace.
Second abstract monoprint attempted in class with Deborah Wace.

A must-see video from our ABC Gardening Australia show SERIES 33 | Episode 16: My Garden Path

Learn more about Deborah Wace and watch here “The Sartorial Naturalist”, an uplifting, beautiful short video. Showcasing her artistic practice and her wonderful botanical designs, printed onto silk.

Thanks, Deborah, for passing your knowledge on mono-printing, a wonderful lunch and wine. Should anyone here in Tassie wanting to do the PRINT, PRESS & DRAW workshop with the remarkable Deborah Wace, click here, I can highly recommend it.

Well, that’s nice. I’m glad his happy, but will he do more prints?

Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for my treats I was promised.

Thank You Mr Kandinsky, Klee and Miró #1 and #2

These two works below are inspired by the Bauhaus Art Movement and three artists that have inspired me from the beginning. And they are Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Joan Miró. Kandinsky and Klee were not only good friends but also played a large role in the Bauhaus movement.

What I’m trying to do here is combine hard edge, abstraction and colour field painting. Then to use both these techniques via there own unique aesthetics combining and achieve my interpretation of the Bauhaus movement as well as a homage to Kandinsky, Klee and Miró.

Am really happy with this one above. Bauhaus was an influential art and design movement that began in 1919 in Weimar, Germany.

Founded by Walter Gropius, the school eventually morphed into its own modern art movement characterized by its unique approach to architecture and design. Today, Bauhaus is renowned for both its unique aesthetic that inventively combines the fine arts with arts and crafts as well as its enduring influence on modern and contemporary art.

Love that textured blue up against the gorgeous orange on the far right hand side. And also that off-white splatter works beautifully with all the Hard-edge painting / Color Field Artwork. I might try to get this one printed.

Bauhaus Art #2 SHANE GARTON

#2 seems a bit to busy regarding the Bauhaus movement, but I feel it has some characteristics that could just scrap through.

Finally his got something right that his happy with. Okay where’s my treats you promised me?

Sneak Peek @ 3 Triptychs

Below are three completed sections of a triptych. The other three quarter section of the paintings maybe completed using oil paint via impasto technique.

Tasmanian Artist Grace Garton

Artisan Grace Garton specializes in soft-sculpture art-dolls, mixed media paintings, watercolour, collage and oh, she's my multi-talented sister. Below is just a small example of her work.

Grace Garton's watercour and collage work of "Riding The Fox's Tail". Here you see a young boy riding a red fox over a small village.

Riding The Fox's Tail - SOLD

“Twins” - “Dumb Head” - “Oscar with Cat” and “Golden Hare”

Seven Ravens - NFS

1928 Cygnet AFL footy team. - >>> See this stunning piece at Despard Gallery <<<

1929 Southern League Team - SOLD

Call It In The Ring 2018 machine stitched, stuffed and hand painted, mix media back-drop, acrylic paint and beeswax, Tasmanian oak and reclaimed fencing, 35 x 55 x 8 cm - Available at DESPARD GALLERY

Cheap Shot 2018 SOLD - Lariet Take Down 2018 - Spinning Backfist 2018 - Upper Cut 2018 SOLD

Grace has been represented by >> Despard Gallery << since 2018.

You can see more of her creativity at >> Etsy <<,

And Grace’s website: Grace Garton.com

Sheeesh, the Garton clan are quite a talented bunch.

NOW, where’s my treats you promised?

Grace’s artworks are very sensitive and is infused with a sensibility towards nostalgia. Simply she’s an emotive, story teller, even though melancholy exists one senses her seeking for beauty that exists in everyday life. Life is fragile, precious and to be enjoyed.

Three Whimsical Pirates

Homage to Yayoi Kusama “Galaxy”

With all the buzz about the images being posted on social media, from the James Webb Space Telescope I could’’t help myself and had to create something to do with the galaxy.

Below my artwork inspired by the quote from the amazing Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama: "Our earth is like one little polka dot, among millions of other celestial bodies. One orb full of hatred and strife amid the peaceful, silent spheres".

Homage to Yayoi Kusama

From The Album Rough and Rowdy Ways

I was listening to "I Contain Multitudes" a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, the opening track on his 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020).

It was this song that inspired me to create "Environmental Multitudes Contained"

Environmental Multitudes Contained

Below lyrics to the song "I Contain Multitudes".

Today and tomorrow, and yesterday, too
The flowers are dyin' like all things do
Follow me close, I'm going to Balian Bali
I'll lose my mind if you don't come with me
I fuss with my hair, and I fight blood feuds
I contain multitudes

Got a tell-tale heart, like Mr. Poe
Got skeletons in the walls of people you know
I'll drink to the truth and the things we said
I'll drink to the man that shares your bed
I paint landscapes, and I paint nudes
I contain multitudes

Red Cadillac and a black mustache
Rings on my fingers that sparkle and flash
Tell me, what's next? What shall we do?
Half my soul, baby, belongs to you
I relic and I frolic with all the young dudes
I contain multitudes

I'm just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones
And them British bad boys, The Rolling Stones
I go right to the edge, I go right to the end
I go right where all things lost are made good again

I sing the songs of experience like William Blake
I have no apologies to make
Everything's flowing all at the same time
I live on the boulevard of crime
I drive fast cars, and I eat fast foods
I contain multitudes

Pink petal-pushers, red blue jeans
All the pretty maids, and all the old queens
All the old queens from all my past lives
I carry four pistols and two large knives
I'm a man of contradictions, I'm a man of many moods
I contain multitudes

You greedy old wolf, I'll show you my heart
But not all of it, only the hateful part
I'll sell you down the river, I'll put a price on your head
What more can I tell you? I sleep with life and death in the same bed

Get lost, madame, get up off my knee
Keep your mouth away from me
I'll keep the path open, the path in my mind
I'll see to it that there's no love left behind
I'll play Beethoven's sonatas, and Chopin's preludes
I contain multitudes

Réversibilité (Reversibility) by Charles Baudelaire

Below is English and French version of this poem.

Medium used for this painting: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper.

Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

Reversibility

Angel full of gaiety, do you know anguish,
Shame, remorse, sobs, vexations,
And the vague terrors of those frightful nights
That compress the heart like a paper one crumples?
Angel full of gaiety, do you know anguish?

Angel full of kindness, do you know hatred,
The clenched fists in the darkness and the tears of gall,
When Vengeance beats out his hellish call to arms,
And makes himself the captain of our faculties?
Angel full of kindness, do you know hatred?

Angel full of health, do you know Fever,
Walking like an exile, moving with dragging steps,
Along the high, wan walls of the charity ward,
And with muttering lips seeking the rare sunlight?
Angel full of health, do you know Fever?

Angel full of beauty, do you know wrinkles,
The fear of growing old, and the hideous torment
Of reading in the eyes of her he once adored
Horror at seeing love turning to devotion?
Angel full of beauty, do you know wrinkles?

Angel full of happiness, of joy and of light,
David on his death-bed would have appealed for health
To the emanations of your enchanted flesh;
But of you, angel, I beg only prayers,
Angel full of happiness, of joy and of light!

— William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954)

Réversibilité

Ange plein de gaieté, connaissez-vous l'angoisse,
La honte, les remords, les sanglots, les ennuis,
Et les vagues terreurs de ces affreuses nuits
Qui compriment le coeur comme un papier qu'on froisse?
Ange plein de gaieté, connaissez-vous l'angoisse?

Ange plein de bonté, connaissez-vous la haine,
Les poings crispés dans l'ombre et les larmes de fiel,
Quand la Vengeance bat son infernal rappel,
Et de nos facultés se fait le capitaine?
Ange plein de bonté connaissez-vous la haine?

Ange plein de santé, connaissez-vous les Fièvres,
Qui, le long des grands murs de l'hospice blafard,
Comme des exilés, s'en vont d'un pied traînard,
Cherchant le soleil rare et remuant les lèvres?
Ange plein de santé, connaissez-vous les Fièvres?

Ange plein de beauté, connaissez-vous les rides,
Et la peur de vieillir, et ce hideux tourment
De lire la secrète horreur du dévouement
Dans des yeux où longtemps burent nos yeux avide!
Ange plein de beauté, connaissez-vous les rides?

Ange plein de bonheur, de joie et de lumières,
David mourant aurait demandé la santé
Aux émanations de ton corps enchanté;
Mais de toi je n'implore, ange, que tes prières,
Ange plein de bonheur, de joie et de lumières!

— Charles Baudelaire

COMES THE CHARMING EVENING

Below is English and French version of this poem.

Medium used for this painting: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper.

Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

Evening Twilight

Delightful evening, partner of the crook,
Steals in, wolf-padded, like a complice: look:
Heaven, like a garret, closes to the day,
And Man, impatient, turns a beast of prey.

Sweet evening, loved by those whose arms can tell,
Without a lie, "Today we've laboured well:"
Sweet evening, it is she who brings relief
To men with souls devoured by one fierce grief,
Obstinate thinkers drowsy in the head,
And toil-bent workmen groping to their bed.

But insalubrious demons of the airs,
Like business people, wake to their affairs
And, flying, knock, like bats, on walls and shutters.
Now Prostitution lights up in the gutters
Across the glimmering jets the wind torments.
Like a huge ant-hive it unseals its vents.
On every side it weaves its hidden tracks
Like enemies preparing night-attacks.
It squirms within the City's breast of mire,
A worm that steals the food that men desire.

One hears the kitchens hissing here and there,
Operas squealing, orchestras ablare.
Cheap tables d'hôte, where gaming lights the eyes,
Fill up with whores, and sharpers, their allies:
And thieves, whose office knows no truce nor rest,
Will shortly now start working, too, with zest,
Gently unhinging doors and forcing tills,
To live some days and buy their sweethearts frills.

Collect yourself, my soul, in this grave hour
And shut your ears against the din and stour.
It is the hour when sick men's pains increase.
Death grips them by the throat, and soon they cease
Their destined task, to find the common pit.
The ward is filled with sighings. Out of it
Not all return the scented soup to taste,
Warm at the hearthside, by some loved-one placed.

But then how few among them can recall
Joys of the hearth, or ever lived at all!

— Roy Campbell, Poems of Baudelaire (New York: Pantheon Books, 1952)

Le Crépuscule du soir

Voici le soir charmant, ami du criminel;
II vient comme un complice, à pas de loup; le ciel
Se ferme lentement comme une grande alcôve,
Et l'homme impatient se change en bête fauve.

Ô soir, aimable soir, désiré par celui
Dont les bras, sans mentir, peuvent dire: Aujourd'hui
Nous avons travaillé! — C'est le soir qui soulage
Les esprits que dévore une douleur sauvage,
Le savant obstiné dont le front s'alourdit,
Et l'ouvrier courbé qui regagne son lit.
Cependant des démons malsains dans l'atmosphère
S'éveillent lourdement, comme des gens d'affaire,
Et cognent en volant les volets et l'auvent.
À travers les lueurs que tourmente le vent
La Prostitution s'allume dans les rues;
Comme une fourmilière elle ouvre ses issues;
Partout elle se fraye un occulte chemin,
Ainsi que l'ennemi qui tente un coup de main;
Elle remue au sein de la cité de fange
Comme un ver qui dérobe à l'Homme ce qu'il mange.
On entend çà et là les cuisines siffler,
Les théâtres glapir, les orchestres ronfler;
Les tables d'hôte, dont le jeu fait les délices,
S'emplissent de catins et d'escrocs, leurs complices,
Et les voleurs, qui n'ont ni trêve ni merci,
Vont bientôt commencer leur travail, eux aussi,
Et forcer doucement les portes et les caisses
Pour vivre quelques jours et vêtir leurs maîtresses.

Recueille-toi, mon âme, en ce grave moment,
Et ferme ton oreille à ce rugissement.
C'est l'heure où les douleurs des malades s'aigrissent!
La sombre Nuit les prend à la gorge; ils finissent
Leur destinée et vont vers le gouffre commun;
L'hôpital se remplit de leurs soupirs. — Plus d'un
Ne viendra plus chercher la soupe parfumée,
Au coin du feu, le soir, auprès d'une âme aimée.

Encore la plupart n'ont-ils jamais connu
La douceur du foyer et n'ont jamais vécu!

— Charles Baudelaire

ART/WORK "Thinking of Ian Fairweather"

The reclusive artist Ian Fairweather, spent the last two decades of his life in a hut on Bribie Island where he created majestic paintings, mostly at night by kerosene lamplight, in his studio-house — a fit-for-purpose structure built from bush materials with an earth floor. Artist James Gleeson described the house as being ‘like a great bird’s nest’.

"Thinking of Ian Fairweather" Medium: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper. Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

"Thinking of Ian Fairweather" Medium: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper. Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

Photograph of Fairweather by Robert Walker (from ‘Hut’ series) 1966, printed 2006.

Photograph of Fairweather by Robert Walker (from ‘Hut’ series) 1966, printed 2006.

Sadness of the Moon - Poem by Charles Baudelaire.

Below is English and French version of this poem.

Medium used for this painting: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper.

Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

Sadness of the Moon

Tonight the moon dreams with more indolence,
Like a lovely woman on a bed of cushions
Who fondles with a light and listless hand
The contour of her breasts before falling asleep;

On the satiny back of the billowing clouds,
Languishing, she lets herself fall into long swoons
And casts her eyes over the white phantoms
That rise in the azure like blossoming flowers.

When, in her lazy listlessness,
She sometimes sheds a furtive tear upon this globe,
A pious poet, enemy of sleep,

In the hollow of his hand catches this pale tear,
With the iridescent reflections of opal,
And hides it in his heart afar from the sun's eyes.

— William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954)

Tristesses de la lune

Ce soir, la lune rêve avec plus de paresse;
Ainsi qu'une beauté, sur de nombreux coussins,
Qui d'une main distraite et légère caresse
Avant de s'endormir le contour de ses seins,

Sur le dos satiné des molles avalanches,
Mourante, elle se livre aux longues pâmoisons,
Et promène ses yeux sur les visions blanches
Qui montent dans l'azur comme des floraisons.

Quand parfois sur ce globe, en sa langueur oisive,
Elle laisse filer une larme furtive,
Un poète pieux, ennemi du sommeil,

Dans le creux de sa main prend cette larme pâle,
Aux reflets irisés comme un fragment d'opale,
Et la met dans son coeur loin des yeux du soleil.

— Charles Baudelaire

Art/work "One O'Clock In The Morning"

The artwork below the poem was inspired by the poet Charles Baudelaire.

One O’Clock in the Morning - (translation by: Ronald F. Sauer)

Alone! At last! One no longer hears but the rolling of some old carriages, belated and broken.

For a few hours we shall possess silence, if not rest.

At last! the tyranny of the human face has disappeared, and I shall no longer suffer but through myself.

At last! it is therefore permitted me to unwind in a bath of shadows. First, a double turn of the lock. It seems to me this turn of the key will augment my solitude and fortify the barricades that now separate me, in fact, from the world.

Horrible life! Horrible city!

Let us recapitulate the day: having seen many men of letters, one of whom asked me if it were possible to travel overland to Russia (he taking, no doubt, Russia for an island); having argued magnanimously with the editor of a review, who says at each of my objections: "Honesty's the policy around here." this which implies that all the other reviews are directed by con-artists; having greeted some twenty people, among whom fifteen were unknown to me; having distributed handshakes in the same proportion, and this without having taken the precaution of buying gloves; having gone up, in order to kill time during a downpour, to the apartment of a local lady-loose, who begs me to design her a love costume of velvet; having paid my respects to the director of a theater, who says in dismissing me: "You would perhaps do well to address yourself to Monsieur Z~~: he's the heaviest, drunkest, most famous of all my authors; with him perhaps you can uncork something trendy. Go see him, and then we'll see."; having boasted (why?) of many villainous things that I had never actually done, and cowardly denied other misdeeds that I accomplished with joy, brassy dereliction, criminal disrespect; having refused a good friend a small service, and given a written recommendation to a perfect idiot; ugh! is it finally over and done with?

Discontent with everybody, as well as with myself, I would like very much to redeem my soul and pride myself a little in the silence and solitude of the night. Souls of those whom I have loved, souls of

those whom I have sung, fortify me, sustain me, keep me from the lying and corrupting vapors of the world; and you, Seigneur, my God! accord me the grace of producing some beautiful verses which prove to myself alone that I am not the last among men, that I am not inferior to those whom I despise!

"ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING"

"ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING" - Medium used, synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper, size 73cm x 106cm. SOLD

"ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING" - Medium used, synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper, size 73cm x 106cm.

Get Drunk Poem by Charles Baudelaire

Below is English version of this poem.

Medium used for this painting: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper.

Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

You have to be always drunk. That’s all there is to it—it’s the only way. So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk.

But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk.

And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a ditch, in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake again, drunkenness already diminishing or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock, everything that is flying, everything that is groaning, everything that is rolling, everything that is singing, everything that is speaking…ask what time it is and wind, wave, star, bird, clock will answer you: “It is time to be drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish.”

– Charles Baudelaire, “Be Drunk”, From Modern Poets of France: A Bilingual Anthology

NAIDOC Week 2021

NAIDOC Week 2021 will be held from Sunday 4 July to Sunday 11 July. This year’s theme – Heal Country!

Lets begin with, history, truth telling, and the importance of the Uluru statement.

ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART

We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart: Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago. This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown. How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years? With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood. Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future. These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness. We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country. We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution. Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination. We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history. In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

NAIDOC Week 2021 - Digital Artwork by SG

NAIDOC Week 2021 - Digital Artwork by SG

Black Surf #1

Medium: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper. Size: 73 cm x 106 cm.
Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

“There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”. – Leonard Cohen