Artwork 45A Pool of the Ancestors and the Hanging Fig Gardens

Umbrawarra Gorge Nature Park is about 200 km south of Darwin and 75 km north of Katherine, with the small town of Pine Creek not too far away for supplies from a nice basic little store. This was a favourite spot of mine while travelling in the Northern Territory during the 1990s. Relatively isolated and undeveloped, this spectacular gorge provided great opportunity for exploration, and I completed many works here on location. Spending so much time in the gorge and wandering the surrounding plateau, we discovered a great variety of different plants and animals, and were witness to various interesting events (including flood and fire!).

For this painting of our favourite swimming hole in this lovely gorge, I worked from a worn rock shaped like a seat, with stencilled hands overhead.