The Dying Darling

‘The Dying Darling’ was a joint project between myself and my partner Sarah Moles to document the plight of the Darling River after a long period of drought. The title was a response to ‘The Living Murray’ government initiative and was intended to highlight the lack of government interest in this river. We chose to focus on the people of the river in an attempt to appeal to anthropocentric orientations. Sarah did the text and I did the drawings in charcoal on gesso panels and the book was published by Enviropress in 2006.  We did four trips along the river to collect the material.

The portraits were done while Sarah engaged the subjects in conversation, resulting mostly in candid portraits as they usually forgot I was there. On many occasions several drawings were done in one day.

“Dying Darling coverart”

“Owen Sees the Writing on the Wall”

Owen Betts was struggling to stay afloat at Balgi after all the upstream water diversions of Cubbie Station. The writing on the wall is a map of these diversions.

“James, Rob, Brian and Gemma Crutching at Balgi, Australia Day 2006”

What’s more Aussie than drawing in a Shearing shed on Australia Day?

“Pop Bent Her Glasses Yesterday”

Pop Peterson managed Brenda Station on the Culgoa River and was concerned about the large number of ancient River Red Gums that were turning up their toes on her property. She was a bit embarrassed about having her portrait done as her glasses were bent. She thought I’d straighten them out in the drawing. She’s now retired to the coast.

“Brenda, Pop's Oasis”

The garden at Brenda was Pop’s pride and joy and the lawn was a buffer of sanity between the house and the sea of dust.

“Floodpain”

Dead trees on Bill Hagarty’s property Talawanta on the Birrie, north of Brewarrina.

“Bill's had a Gutful”

His expression says it all. Bloody hot. He’s since sold up and retired to Dubbo. This drawing won me the Hugh Sawrey Art Award in 2012.

“Angelo Remembers”

Angelo Pippos runs the amazingly intact Café Deluxe, handed down from his grandfather, in the sad town of Brewarrina.

“Aunty Liz - Speaking for Kamilaroi”

Aunty Liz Wallace and Uncle Allan Hall lived at Lightning Ridge. The Narran Lakes was their country. Alan was part of this portrait, but insisted on wearing his hat, which was annoying as his hair was impressive. During the sitting his position constantly changed, making it impossible to get a good likeness. So I cut his end off and came back a few months later to draw him again.

“Uncle Allan Hall – Speaking for Yuwaaliaay”

See what I mean about Allan’s hair. A real gentleman and defender of his country and people, now deceased.

“Janey Adams, Carbon Cyclist”

Janey was a research scientist working for the Northern Basin Freshwater Research Laboratory at Gundiwindi, shortly to be unemployed.

“Hamish Goes Against the Flow”

Hamish Holcombe is a fourth-generation woolgrower on the Whalan Creek floodplain. He’s since been forced to sell up.

“Sue Speaks Up”

I did Sue Jones’ portrait in a pub in Dubbo. One portrait I regret not painting, beautiful swarthy skin and intense green eyes.

“Dirran Town Weir”

The Dirranbandi town weir, just a small river blockage as far as blockages go.

“Mal Turnbull Tests the Waters”

We attended a meeting at Dirran where the newly appointed Parliamentary Secretary assisting the Prime Minister on Water Policy was trying to get up to speed.

“Ed Fessey Gesture”

A quick (2 mins) sketch of Ed, drawn in the waiting shed at Dirran airport. He was at the meeting, but wasn’t interested in sitting, so I had to content myself with a sketch.

“The Disarming John Grabbe”

Much discussed manager of Cubbie Station and consummate politician. In the sky is the text of section 100 of the Australian constitution, giving control of river water to the states, drawn in brown with half-baked charcoal.

“Sarah at Bifurc 2 on Donegri Creek”

A bifurcated weir is a way of controlling stream flow at a fork in the river. Sarah appears to be moonwalking.

“Jacked Up”

A section of the massive Jack Taylor Weir at St. George.

“The House of God”

The offices of Sunwater at St. George. They decide.

“Beardmore, Nee Ups'n'Downs”

Beardmore Dam, also at St. George, once known as the property Ups’n’Downs.

“Peter Andrews, Restoring the Balance”

I travelled a long way to draw river restoration guru Peter Andrews. He wasn’t very accommodating and I had to chase him all over the property in the rain as he worked in order to capture this portrait. I drew him from several different angles on the same panel until this profile finally resolved, at which point I erased the others and filled in the background.

“Bill Chaining Ponds”

Bill was operating the excavator under Peter’s direction. He was chuffed to think anyone would bother drawing him at work.

“Howie's Tractor's Got a Flat”

Howard Blackburn lived on the Gwydir floodplain between Mungindi and Moree. The flat tyre on his tractor echoed his mood.

“Crinolyn Ramsar Wasteland”

Howard’s wasted property, Crynolyn, RAMSAR listed, but not watered.

“One Ton Post at Mungindi”

We just had to pay our respects to the One Ton Post, a surveying marker at the end of the straight line border between NSW and Queensland.

“Jen and Sarah, Birds of a Feather”

Jen Southeron was a committed birdo who lived near Howard. She really stiffened up while I was drawing and it shows.

“Lefty”

An old friend of ours, Colin Lethbridge had a pecan farm at Moree. I made some pecan (hickory) charcoal while visiting, and used it in all the following drawings.

“ECAOAC Sets Off”

On a visit to the Gwydir River with the Environmental Contingency Allowance Operations Advisory Committee (!) to inspect the Gwydir raft on the Gingham River, an immense blockage of timber and assorted whitegoods.

“The Gwydir Raft”

 “Snag”

“The Gingham”

“Rocky”

An aboriginal attending a community consultation meeting at Lightning Ridge. After finishing this candid sketch, I showed it to him and his wife laughed and said that if he’d known I was drawing him, he would have put his hat on to cover his bald spot.

“Hot Dog and Sherrie”

At the same meeting.

“Rory”

Rory Treweeke was speaking at the meeting.

“The Artesian Pool at the Ridge”

“Eric and Wilga”

Eric Fisher is a landholder in the Macquarie Marshes.

 “Lock 10 at Wentworth”

One of the many locks along the Murray River.

“Confluence”

The confluence of the Murray (left) and Darling (right) rivers. The Murray is river colour, the Darling is reddy brown.

“Canoe Tree at Wentworth”

A scarred tree where aboriginals had removed the bark to make a canoe.

“P.S.Industry”

A Paddle steamer in retirement at Renmark.

“Howard, Greening the Wetlands”

Howard Jones, at Wentworth, one of those rare people who actually do something to rehabilitate river wetlands.

“(Lake) Mungo”

The famous Lake Mungo, bereft of water, but raining. The roads turned to slush and we were very lucky to get out.

“Bringing Rain to Menindee”

The dry Menindee Lakes at Sunset Strip, where it was also raining.

“Marie - d.r.a.g. Queen”

Marie Wecker, president of the Darling River Action Group at Broken Hill.

“Barney - Mending a Broken Hill”

Barney Stevens was a d.r.a.g. member who set up an arboretum in Broken Hill.

“Bill - Speaking for Barkindji”

Bill Riley, a ranger at Mutawintji National Park and another d.r.a.g. member.

“Neville Over the Darling”

Neville Crisp lives on the banks of the Darling near Wilcannia. He wasn’t too happy about me doing his portrait, but was pleased with the results.

“The Darling at Idalia”

Infested with feral plants.

“Cole's New World”

Ian Cole is a very savvy irrigator who lives near Bourke. The title is the name of his property.

“Culgoa...Going...Gone”

This is a piece of the Culgoa floodplain on Ed Fessey’s property north of Brewarrina. The ants were the only noticeable form of life.

“Richard and Clarissa, Bringing Native Fish Back”

Richard Ping Kee has a fishing shop at Moree and does what he can to remove carp from the Gwydir River and restore native fish stocks. In the background is his pet Murray Cod, called Clarissa, who had an amazing party act that involved changing colour rapidly.

“Peter Glennie - Not Just a Farmer”

Peter is an irrigator in Moree with a collection of rally cars.

“Barnaby and Bill – Boys Behaving Badly”

Barnaby Joyce and Bill Heffernan at a Senate enquiry into water policy initiatives that we attended in Toowoomba. Barnaby just scowled at me, but Bill wandered over and had a chat. They were continually having a go at each other.

 

 

“The Enigmatic Leith Boully”

Leith chaired the Water Futures reference panel that got nowhere in Toowoomba.

“Aunty Grace - Speaking for Kooma”

We met Aunty Grace Wetherall at her home in Toowoomba.

“Hadley Faces the Future”

A rare thing – a young person interested in the health of the rivers.

“Topograph – Flat”

A topographic map of the Darling River Catchment. I used layers of tissue and gesso to accurately describe the elevation of the landscape. It’s flat.

“Electrograph – Flow”

A circuit board I made showing the water storages (capacitors) and town weirs (diodes) in the Murray-Darling Basin. The large clump top centre is around St. George and the Snowy Mountains Scheme is bottom right. St. George and Cubbie are bigger than the Snowy.