Year - 2026 · Size - 34 x 47 cm / 13½ x 18½ in · Medium - Ink and collage on paper

When I arrived at the campground at Six Mile Creek it was bucketing down — unexpected, given it had been dry on the coast. I set up the rooftop tent in the rain and settled in for the night, hoping to wake to a dry morning. I did. Game on.

I packed my backpack and headed to the creek via the boardwalk, rock hopping downstream over granite boulders and wading shallow pools lined with granitic sand until I came upon the subject of a previous painting — the magical spot where Six Mile Creek loses its name and flows into the larger Tantawangalo Creek. I had explored the Tantawangalo below the junction and much further upstream near Postman's Camp, but the section directly above the junction remained a mystery. That was about to change.

It didn't take long wandering upstream before a stretch of river called for a painting. Who was I to deny that request? I spread my ink bottles and brushes across a granite boulder and got to work. Then disaster struck — I knocked over my blue ink, which pooled across the rock. The incident threw me. After mopping it up I decided it was time to keep exploring. If there was any merit in what had been started, the work would be finished later in the studio...