I revisited my Kakadu influenced artwork when a recent TV programme investigated park ranger’s work at Kakadu and Nitmiluk National Parks during the wet season that made possible safe passage for dry season visitors.

My previous series of works involved archaeological sites and Museums in Crete so the word “archaeology ” was fresh in my mind and also suggested by a fellow painter as part of the series title which is An Archaeology of Landscape. The reason was that I metaphorically connected the forces of nature and those of the archaeologist and miner. Both pare back layers of overburden although time’s span obviously vary to reveal essential structures or objects; the earth’s structures like ancient ruins and relics like specific types of rock.

As a dry season visitor and member of a painting group my immediate sketches were produced on site in gorges, beside billabongs and outliers. Frottage technique of rubbing pencil over a surface covered with paper as well earth staining paper from wet rice or handmade paper was another way to bring back to my studio impressions from this place.

Sketch in ink pen of undermined rock face by water flow from the wet season

Quick sketch at first gorge

Quick sketch in first gorge at Katherine Gorge

Sketch in ink pen of second gorge in Katherine Gorge

Sketch line drawing of Katherine Gorge.

Pastel and charcoal sketch at Katherine Gorge.

Pastel sketch of rock face.

Sketch from Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park

Sketch in ink pen at Katherine Gorge

Sketch from Katherine Gorge, pastel stain on pencil frottage

Sketch in ink pen from Anbangbang Billabong

Sketch in pastel of Edith Falls.

Sketch in pastel with frottage in pencil at Edith Falls.

Sketch of Edith Falls, charcoal and pastel

Sketch from Kakadu, pastel and charcoal

Author: elainedesterre

I have been producing oil paintings, mixed media, prints (etching), digital prints and drawings for many years travelling to the Australian outback and overseas for inspiration and further education. My formal education consists of a PhD in painting and a BA in printmaking and my artwork is represented in public and private collections. My purpose and ongoing challenge is to create a gender-balanced and environment-focused iconography within the Western canon of European oil painting. These themes find expression within imagery about time, memory and identity as well as in geomorphology of evolutionary and environmental significance.