![]() |
I was awarded the ' Undercurrent' prize at the Artscape Wynyard Exhibition with my painting: Damaged; Tin Mine
The judge was Raymond Arnold The Little Blue Lake in Tasmania is a spectacle of turquoise water juxtaposed with banks of complimentary colours. However, unlike the pure water of similarly coloured glacial lakes, this is a toxic mining pit. Birds and animals will die in it. Water cannot be totally contained in open pits like these and it will spill during heavy rainfall. Disturbingly, official reports say that the toxins from historical and new mines will continue to contaminate the environment in numerous ways for hundreds of years. Mining still produces open pits such as the Savage River Mine in the Tarkine of West Tasmania. In addition, the vegetation loss can never be replaced as it was before. There is not only loss of biodiversity but the old growth trees remove carbon from the atmosphere and capture it in the living tree as well as in the soil. Thus, the loss of trees exacerbates the climate change problem. |
LEFT: Each year, around Christmas time, the Cardwell lilies bloom after the first wet season rains. First, the lilies emerge, then the shimmering bright green leaves. The leaves persist for months after the flowers die, then nothing until the next year. We see in this painting, native Wet Tropics World Heritage Area flora softly framing the man-made waterfall that flows into the fauna friendly pond. The pond attracts musky rat-kangaroos, red-necked crakes, buff-breasted paradise kingfishers (amongst numerous other species of birds), snakes and goannas.
|
LEFT: Five years ago, I was attracted to this scene of the old car in the bushes. At the time, I thought it would make a good painting but the thought became more urgent when it was quickly being covered by foliage and even more urgent when the property sold. It is a common scene on rural properties.
|