During my travels this year I have enjoyed seeing and recording the many varieties of rocks that are to be found along the Australian coast and inland. What I encountered on my recent trip to Darwin came as a bit of a shock. The rocks in the Northern Territory are simply awesome!
The landscape in and around Darwin is quiet ancient. Heat and rain have taken their toll, but the results are simply amazing, a treasure chest for every artist!
Some of the areas I visited are scared to the aboriginal population and I can see why and respect their feelings towards the land in which they live. There were times when I was simply overawed by what I was experiencing and my camera was kept busy recording as much as possible.
Our trip to Darwin was a holiday, but also for me it was a chance to ‘gather’ more ideas for future artworks, and gather I did!
I have commenced the task of reviewing all of the 756 photos I took and today I want to share some of the patterns from rocks that I found on the shore below the esplanade where we stayed. Remember, these examples are not in the distant outback, but 200 metres from the centre of Darwin!
I came across this group of rocks quite by accident as we were walking towards the city’s harbour. As you can see, the patterns are very striking. Crimson was the dominant colour. What fantastic abstracts these patterns are!
When I look deeply into these designs I see ‘stories’ about the landscape of the Northern Territory. I have set myself the task of interpreting these images and making ‘visual sense’ of them in the form of a series of paintings.
This would have to be some of the best ‘natural’ abstracts I have ever seen. I have more examples from in and around Darwin to show you, but that will be for another day.
On Wednesday I will post some examples of the rocks I photographed on the Darwin foreshore.
Richard.
artkleko's Weblog 
Fantastic patterns and details. They will keep you busy for months. I was struck by how the 4th one down looks like an eye of some mythical beast!
You’re not wrong Gillian! I have a treasure trove to sift through, but I intend to take my time before I start any ‘Darwin’ work.
Love the title and the photos Geo-Richard. Beautiful colours. My fav is the one with the fold in it because it suggests flow an movement. Last year I did dome works I called geo-artscapes….broad view lanscapes with a significant component as the geology…. you saw the tesselated pavement which was one of them. Seeing your work and photos fuels this focus. When I studied geology I did love the patterns, colours, crystal structure, looking through a petrological microscope and even the symbols used in geological mapping. Got all my geology books out last year but did not quite go as far with it as I was going to. Maybe you enthusiasm will get me back there. Evelyn.
Thank you Evelyn, I have been called ‘The Bread Man’, now, ‘Geo-Richard’. This could also give me some ‘geo-incentive’ in the future. I do intend to do a series on the Katherine Gorge. I will post some of the photos (next week) I took there of cliff tops that I’m sure will interest you.