MacDonnell Ranges 1950

Albert Namatjira painted this watercolour of the MacDonnell Ranges, and what strikes me is the blue. It seems that the whole scene has been subtly, softly dipped in it. Namatjira was one of the first Aboriginal artists to paint in a Western style, and I wonder what he was thinking when he picked up the brush. The watercolor is really fluid and thin here, unlike oil paint which can be thick and gloopy. I’m thinking of that foreground, all those rocks, rendered in such delicate browns; that mountain range in the distance, shrouded in a blue haze. And then there's that pale tree trunk with the intertwining branches that feels like the spine of the whole painting. What would it be like to stand there and look at that landscape and commit it to paper? What a beautiful way to look at the world. We are all conversing and exchanging ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity!