Arkaroola is a stunning place. My recent trip there in June with Jessica Brooke Anderson has been planned over the course of the last year. Our original intention was to spend time there observing the night starscapes - it is a famous location for clear skies and stunning views of the Milky Way.

We were able to do some sky observing, including a couple of visits to Arkaroola's own telescope dome - but much of our viewing included staring at clouds and muttering about the weather.

One of the wonderful and frustrating things about art projects that involve travel to remote locations is unpredictability. We can plan everything in detail - but weather, flooded roads, and all sorts of other unexpected happenings can turn everything upside down.

This need to be flexible and responsive to the situation gave us the opportunity to experiment and make new work that may otherwise not have been developed. Not knowing if, or when we'd be able to act on our plans meant we needed to live in the moment, to observe our environment closely and pay attention to the changing conditions. This generated conversations - we discussed our experiences and observations - noted when we'd been thinking along the same thought lines and where we were experiencing resistance, doubt, fear, exhilaration and wonder.

We moved slowly, took our time, and looked closely - at the ground, the flora, the colours... We listened - to the wind, to the silence - feeling the stillness of the air when we stood on the ridge-tops and the thud of unseen wallabies avoiding us as we navigated along narrow walking tracks.

During the wet days we set up a makeshift studio in the common area of the accommodation, drawing and writing, sketching out ideas and making notes for future reference.

The Gallery at Arkaroola, this functions as a common room and dining area for visitors. It also became and excellent studio space for us during our stay.

Jessica working on a long roll of rice paper - we used these scrolls like diaries to create drawings documenting our observations over the period we were working at Arkaroola.

Experiments with ink and watercolour on rice paper

So still and silent on the ridge top - not even a breath of wind - all I could hear was the ringing in my ears...

In 2013 I spent a month in Finland working at Arteles Creative Centre undertaking a residency with the theme of Silence, Awareness, Existence. The time was filled with exploring; walking through the forests, around the lake and across the fields of surrounding farms. One of the highlights, apart from having focused time to work, was meeting other artists with shared fascinations. The conversations, critical feedback and the opportunities to gain insights into other people’s working processes were invaluable.

One of those artists was Jessica Brooke Anderson. Since saying goodbye in the winter dark of Finland we’ve stayed in touch and shared ideas, and recently had the opportunity to say hello again in the far warmer winter sun of central Australia (though it did rain almost the entire time we were there). Our mission was to spend time at the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in the northern Flinders Ranges exploring the area, making work and studying the night skies. Following the trip to Arkaroola the second stage of our project has been to undertake a printmaking residency at Megalo Print Studio in Canberra.

We commenced our journey in Adelaide and drove north through lush, green farmland and into the semi-arid landscape of central South Australia. We were entranced by the shifting pastel subtleties of the waterlogged skies and distant hills appearing and disappearing beneath the clouds.

This watery-ness was to stay with us for the whole trip - our initial plan to view the starry night skies, thwarted by unseasonal wet.

Below are some images from the trip. In the next post I'll give some more detail about the work we commenced while there.