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I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
From 'My Country', Dorothea Mackellar, (1885-1968)
I thought of this poem, written by Australian poet Mackellar at the age of 22 while travelling in the United Kingdom, when we were out driving with my father recently. This summer has seen little rain, and many heatwaves, which show no sign of abating at the moment.
Consequently, much of the countryside out from Brisbane is looking very hungry.
Australia is an island continent of 7,692,024 sq.km, with 23,000,000 people, most of whom live on or near the fertile South-East, and South-West, marked in red in the map, which shows people per sq.km. In fact 89% of the population live in urban areas.
You can see that the greater part of the continent is pale yellow, with less than 0.1 population per sq. km.
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Even close to the coast, as we are, times can become very difficult in the farming lands.
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Australian artists have sought to capture the spirit of the 'sunburnt country', Australia...
The first painting we bought for our first home was a print of "The Cricketers",1948, by Sir Russell Drysdale [1912-1981], described by the National Gallery of Australia as 'one of the most original and haunting images in all Australian art'.
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| 'Road with Rocks', Sir Russell Drysdale |
Drysdale paints the ochre coloured inland, desolate landscapes inhabited by sparse figures under ominous skies.
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| "Western landscape", 1945, Sir Russell Drysdale |
In 1944 The Sydney Morning Herald assigned Drysdale to go into far western New South Wales to 'illustrate the effects of the then devastating drought'. His reputation was assured by a series based on the derelict gold-mining town of Hill End.
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| 'Red Landscape', Sir Russell Drysdale |
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As we drove back towards his town, we thought my 93-year-old Dad was asleep.
We stopped for me to take a series of tree shots, when a voice suddenly emerged from the back seat:
''Make sure you get that bird under the big tree"...
''Make sure you get that bird under the big tree"...
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Sure enough, half hidden in the weeds, there was a white crane, which flew off when it realised it was under surveillance..
Sometimes my Dad is as sharp as ever..
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Have a lovely week
XXX
Hello Patricia:
ReplyDeleteWhy have we not known of the work of Russell Drysdale before now? What truly haunting images. Thank you so much for introducing us to this artist - we shall certainly explore further.
Australia, about which we know far too little, is an amazing country, the size of which we have such difficulty in comprehending. That it is experiencing such harsh conditions is such a worry. When will governments worldwide take action to reduce the effects of climate change?
Have a restful and peaceful Sunday.
Hello Jane and Lance, yes, Drysdale's images are haunting, with a surrealist beauty about them. Australia was always a dry continent, but much degradation has been wrought by the early European settlers who in their ignorance introduced many farming practices and plant species which have hastened the destruction of the environment. Climate change is both the result of this and a cause of further problems. We must care for our land. Thank you for your comment.
DeleteHaunting images indeed. Love the colors he used. The early settlers must have had difficulty adjusting to the dry, harsh landscape after the green, verdant landscape of England. It certainly has a beauty all it's own. What a fascinating continent is Australia.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about an elderly parent being so keen at times about what's going on when you think they're not paying attention! My mother sometimes amazes me!
Sanda, the land in the centre really is those colours. I have only been to the edge of the desert and the soil is remarkable in its rust/orange appearance. The early settlers began in the fertile coastal fringe, but pushed ever onward into the interior, much as in the United States. Elderly parents continue to surprise!
DeleteDear Patricia - our countryside is exactly the opposite of yours at this moment in time - it is emerald green. However, I have just read a longterm forecast saying that we are going to enjoy a very hot summer!!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the introduction to Sir Russell Drysdale and seeing some of his paintings. His work appears to have a surreal quality to it but does beautifully convey the Australian landscape during times of drought.
Oh, emerald green country would be a treat - but a couple of weeks rain would give it back to us, too, at least in the coastal hinterland. So you are going to have the hot summer - I send it over happily :)
DeleteSurrealism was certainly an influence on Drysdale - I was interested to read that the Queen has his "Man in a Landscape" in the royal collection.
It's dry like this where I live too. We've had a beautiful, warm, sunny winter but that's not necessarily a good thing in the long run. Your dad is very sharp! Good for him. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, of course, New Mexico - much the same rust colour as our interior, but you have the gorgeous adobe buildings which I love. Dad can be vague for weeks, then quick and sharp when you least expect it!
DeleteMy, Australia is huge.
ReplyDeleteThe paintings you show us, somehow have a resemblance with some by Dali, could that be?
You can´t fool your dad, it seems ; ). He is a very bright man!
I had a hard time recognizing the bird myself.
Yes, Mette, huge and largely empty. Yes, there is a resemblance to Dali and he was most influenced by Surrealism, travelling and training in art in Europe around 1930, just the right time for it. I took a minute to find the bird too - no doubt about Dad, is there.
DeleteThat poem is so beautiful and so evocative!! xx
ReplyDeleteAmy, the poem is very popular, and is also set to music and sung on patriotic occasions. It is very evocative, definitely! xx
DeleteThat's the Australia I love! So glad my ancestors on both sides made the big move back in the early 1830's ... one as a convict no less...J
ReplyDeleteHi Judith, Yes, I love to get out into the country and feel the wide-open spaces myself. Ah, a convict, very much a badge of honour these days. Our ancestors came around 1850, and took up small farm holdings.
DeletePatricia,
ReplyDeleteI loved the little story about your dad, bless his heart. :~) "The cricketers" painting is delightful. Australia sounds wonderful. Jess visited there a few years ago, and saw all the kangaroos. I would love to visit someday.
Your bird nest is sweet.
Love,
~Sheri
Dad, the bird guy, always on the look out! "The Cricketers" is a great painting, and we kept the print in our house for about 20 years until it faded off. Australia is very different from Europe and North America - we are our own little bit of exotica! Hope you can come over some time, and I'll give you a personal tour of the Art Gallery :) I found the bird nest in a garden shop; I think its sweet too. x
DeleteIt's still so hot and dry down our way also.
ReplyDeleteWhen will it end?? Maybe you could wave your greenthumb towards the clouds, and make it rain :)
DeleteI love the poem Patricia and the paintings are wonderful - a great introduction to Drysdale, who I've not heard of before. Stunning photos. I love that your Dad still has his interest in his birds. Have a good week.
ReplyDeletePatricia x
Glad you enjoyed the post, Patricia. Drysdale is part of our national cultural history, I suppose you could say. When Dad loses interest in birds and kangaroos, we'll start to worry! xx
DeleteI enjoyed the Drysdale paintings, the one with what looks like laundry on the line strongly appealed to me although I liked them all. So great that your Dad is still enjoying his rides and spotting birds.
ReplyDeleteDarla
I like that painting too Darla - the laundry waving in the sun is typical of Australia but with a surreal element, and I love how he makes the fallen log also look like the skull of a dead cow or sheep. Creepy! Dad keeps us busy with his weekend expectations :)
DeleteOooh, I LOVE the Drysdale paintings! I shall have to look him up and get a book. Just wonderful, Patricia! And bless your old dad. Wonderful that he still keeps a sharp lookout on the natural world!
ReplyDeletePS, we could use a bit of that burning sun to dry up some of our soggy earth. I discovered one wall of my little country cottage has got so wet from driving rain this winter, it has started to soak through. The interior wall is damp and mouldy…never before!
ReplyDeleteHello Val, glad you enjoyed Drysdale - very austere place, Australia!! I thought Dad had cataracts, but there you go, he can see a bird hiding in long grass. I'll send some sun over there to dry out the cottage and you send me some rain, with a bit of snow on the side - OK?
DeleteAnother here grateful for the introduction to Drysdale's paintings. My father used to try to describe the interior of Australia to me (he'd lived there as a young man) but always felt he didn't do it justice. He would have loved these. Your countryside looks like it could use some of our excess rainwater. at the moment it's hard to imagine our grass ever being anything but vivid green.
ReplyDeleteI smiled when I read your Dad's comment. These flashes of keen observation can surprise us when someone seems often to be rather vague and disengaged. I see it with my mother-in-law too as her memory fails more.
I can understand your father trying to describe the enormity and the strange poetic qualities of the inland - quite a challenge! We like a bit of vivid green grass but we don't see it very often. Maybe in the Autumn, which starts on March 1st, Mr Weather Man, if you are listening :) Always a surprise with the elderley - one must always assume they can understand and hear what you say. Can't be too careful! In a few weeks I will be doing a training course in guiding dementia patients at the art gallery, as a way to encourage them to remember and participate in the world. Really looking forward to it!
DeleteSuch beautiful images and lovely observations...
ReplyDeleteThank you Kristina, and may I say I am enjoying your blog ensembles these days :)
DeleteMy introduction to Australian art has been through the brilliant gallery in Federation square in Melbourne. I was fascinated to see the early colonial paintings that tried to show what Australia looked like...but they completely failed to capture Australian light...they look so European....then the artists like Streeton, started to capture that fabulous light and landscape that is so Australian. I love the Drysdale images.....I love this post, it has got me really thinking about the amazing landscapes I have been lucky enough to see over the last few weeks. Jx
ReplyDeleteHi Janice, Isn't the art gallery at Federation Square great? The early colonial artists are really interesting, but art evolves and we get to Streeton. I have been thinking of doing a post about him. I'm glad you enjoyed our landscapes - think of me arriving in England and being besotted by oak trees as we drove down to Essex :)
DeleteI love the expression "the sunburnt land" It somehow says so much more than those three little words suggest, suggesting open spaces, outdoors, ruggedness and all kinds of other things. A lovely post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jenny - Mackellar would have had no idea her phrase would enter the lexicon as it has, a wonderful description. Now let's hope when Autumn arrives we can have a little less 'sunburn'!
DeleteDear Patricia.
ReplyDeleteHow I remember singing "Sunburnt country"- just reading this lovely post,took me back many years, to when i lived in that wonderful country.
Indeed Drysdale caught Dali like images of the desert and the landscape of the outback.
Nice post Patricia...
love val xxxx
Dear Val, I love that you also have sung Sunburnt Country. It is one of the songs we sing on Australia Day at the Citizenship ceremony. Drysdale was definitely influenced by Dali, in a really interesting way. love from Oz xxx
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