Original landscape painting by local Wagga Wagga artist, Sid Palazzi.

Artist Statement:

Illara Creek cuts its way through sandstone ridges of the McDonnell ranges in NT. It's hot and dry most of the year but it's amazing what thrives there. Ghost gums are incredible survivors and grow out of impossible cracks in the rocks. I can wander and wonder all day.

The Central Australian landscape has been the inspiration for my painting over the past decade. It has been a privilege to have access not only to remote National Parks but also to Aboriginal Lands. With a group of practicing artists I visited Ruby Gap and on Tempe Downs Station Illara Creek and Walker Creek. The process I developed over repeated visits was to walk out alone into the landscape. I allowed myself to be immersed in the vastness surrounding me and to absorb its detail.  More importantly was to contemplate my presence in a landscape that has been home to Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years. My painting technique has developed to capture the vividness of  the colour and the depths of the shadows. By keeping the contrast to a maximum I am working to capture in my paintings the power of the light on the landscape. Sid Palazzi