Still feeling moved by my weekend at Camp Coorong in October I have been working on a series of acrylic paintings called “The end of the drain”, about the tragic plight of the once beautiful Coorong.

Here’s one I have been working on:

It’s about the government’s obsession with engineering solutions to the Coorong’s problems. I’m happy with the colours and the general idea, but my perspectives are a bit askew. Pencilled in you’ll see the outline of a pelican. This, if my memory serves me correctly, is the totem, or “nagatji” of one of the Ngarrindjeri elders we met at Camp Coorong. The government recently decided on an engineering solution to protect the wetlands around Goolwa, Currency Creek and the Finnis River. But did the government respect the wishes of the local indigenous peoples prior to building the “regulator” at Clayton, which is, effectively, another bridge across the Murray River to Hindmarsh Island?

Below is another trial run:

This deals with the Coorong’s toxicity which has reach crisis point, particularly in the Coorong’s southern reaches.

I’ll have to make quite a few adjustments to this before I’ll be totally happy with it.

My deadline is January 11th. This is the date upon which all entries to the 2010 Victor Harbour Art Show must be delivered. The exhibition runs from 15th to 23rd January. It’s open from 6:45 pm to 9 pm on 15th January, and thereafter from 10 am to 8:30 pm daily. It’s a huge exhibition and many works are very reasonably priced!