acrylic and oil on canvas board panels
In 2012 I flew in a light plane over Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre in far north South Australia. Lake Eyre is normally a very large dry inland salt lake covered in thick crust of white glistening salt.
At the time of my visit it was flooded for the first time in 20 years. The bird life was spectacular, the clear light extraordinary, the silky blue of the salt lake created a haze to merge with the horizon. I was astonished by the ancient landscape etched by extraordinary shapes and colours – the water changing in colour from clear cerulean blue, to deep olive green, and then to pink clay brown. The landscape below made by layered sediments of sand, minerals and salt creates an ancient abstract landscape of islands, rich in colour and design.
During my flight I took some 500 aerial photos on my Nikon 5000. As with all photographers, I was expecting every photo to be more exceptional than the last – but back in the studio the reality was that the photos did not reflect the magnificence of Kati Thanda.
Inspired,I commenced painting on small panels fixed to my studio wall. I started with 36 panels (20x25cm), but the landscape grew to 90 panels to cover most of my studio wall and waiting to grow.
I also painted a number of other paintings titled “ Flying over Kati Thanda- Lake Eyre.
acrylic on canvas
© Rosemary Warmington 2015, all rights reserved.
(extract from Wikapaedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Eyre
Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre is located in the deserts of central Australia, in northern South Australia. The Lake Eyre Basin is a large endorheic system surrounding the lakebed, the lowest part of which is filled with the characteristic salt pan caused by the seasonal expansion and subsequent evaporation of the trapped waters. Even in the dry season there is usually some water remaining in Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, normally collecting in over 200 smaller sub-lakes within its margins. The lake was formed by aeolian processes after tectonic upwarping occurred to the south subsequent to the end of the Pleistocene epoch.[3]
The shoreline lies at −9 m (−30 ft).[4] The lake is the area of maximum deposition of sediment in the Lake Eyre Basin.[5]
Lake Eyre is divided into two sections which are joined by the Goyder Channel. These are known as Lake Eyre North, which is 144 kilometres (89 mi) in length and 65 kilometres (40 mi)
The lake takes on a pink hue when saturated due to the presence of beta-carotene pigment caused by the algae Dunaliella salina.
Heavy local rain in early March 2011 in the Stuart Creek and Warriner catchments filled Lake Eyre South, with Lake Eyre North about 75 per cent covered with water firstly from the Neales and Macumba Rivers, and later from the Warburton River.[16]
When the lake is full, a notable phenomenon is that around midday the surface can often become very flat. The surface then reflects the sky in a way that leaves both the horizon and water surface virtually impossible to see.