I recently revisited Purnululu National Park on the edge of the Kimberley in north-west Australia for the third time. It is the most spectacular and inspiring arid landscape I have experienced. I have done a variety of pastel drawings and gouaches on previous visits (see Sand Cycles). Painting a dry waterfall using gouache on site and later oils in my studio (Purnululu Pool) inspired me to be a bit more creative in trying to capture the essence of Purnululu using the features and species I find most alluring.

The range is formed by sand and pebbles washed from the Kimberley 360 million years ago. One side of the range is sandstone which has eroded to form aggregations of domed “beehives” striped in orange and grey. On the other side river rocks formed conglomerate, now characterized by deep gorges and bulbous peaks festooned with fan palms. The rocks have been stained orange by rusting to form iron oxide, except where they hold more moisture due to their clay content or being seasonal waterfalls, allowing a greyish coating of cyanobacteria to thrive. Under overhangs the eroding sandstone can create intricate honeycomb patterns, known as tafoni. To the east the ancient river pebbles freed from their entombment by monsoon rains carve flowforms into the sandstone stream beds.

I have focused on combining the tafoni, flowforms and beehives to represent the essence of the sandstone landscape (Purnululu Flowforms I and II, Purnululu Heart), and for the conglomerate I have tried to represent the essence of the gorges (Gorgeous Purnululu).