Oil on canvas

Signed on the front.

I live on the beautiful but isolated island in Tasmania, the Flinders Island. There are magnificent mountains, over 120 pristine beaches, rock formations with red lichen. A paradise to live in and a constant source of inspiration for an artist's soul. The island is also a place of sadness where in 1834 some 134 Tasmanian aboriginals were housed, ostensibly for their own safety away from dangers to them on the mainland Tasmania. Their health failed in accommodation unsuitable to them. They died here, at Wyballena, longing for their own country. The cemetary is a very sad place. In the past the graves were marked and identified, but now there is only bare grass and thistles. This work is influenced by the history and sadness of Wybalenna, depicting the dozens of graves and the longing for home.