Alice to Adelaide Art Tour 2017

Alice to Adelaide. Breakaways.

We met in Alice Springs for our journey to paint the outback all the way to Adelaide. There were 14 artists with me on board the big 4WD vehicle crewed by John and Chris from OZ Tours, our charter. We had a mixture of people from Gympie, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Bungendore, with one thing in mind- PAINTING! And paint they did with enthusiasm and excitement. I think our crew were amazed at all these artists jumping off the bus and disappearing into the landscape. This was to be a feature of the tour from then on.

First stop was Rainbow Valley about 100 kms from Alice. It was such a beautiful place, this large craggy rock rising out of the landscape, all the colours of the rainbow. We were overwhelmed- it wasn’t what I expected. Then on to Marla our overnight stop on the road to Coober Pedy. What can I say about Coober Pedy? A bit of a rambling spread out place with air vents sticking out of the ground from the underground homes. Our motel was great. A soft bed, good food and an underground room each. This was to be the best accommodation we would have for quite a few days. We had our first show and tell in Coober Pedy. These are such fun, everyone shows the work done from the past few days and we discuss the paintings and drawings and reasons for choosing that particular spot to paint. We have a number of these show and tells throughout the journey It brings us together.

We saw the moon plain- flat as a tack, painted in the Breakaways which were unbelievable. Orange, ochre, white, red and shades in between. Sculptured shapes rising out of a flat landscape. Then on to the feature of the tour. The Painted Desert. We stayed at Arckaringa Homestead, in Donger accommodation and six of us had to camp. Accommodation is very limited in these outback places but it was an experience for all of us.

With clear skies and stars overhead, and the smell of the campfire, it was just something I will never forget. The temperature in the mornings was a bit nippy at - 4 degrees, but the Painted Desert soon took our minds off the cold. Chris did all the cooking and prepared the best lunches I have ever had on any tour- John was an expert driver with a lot of knowledge about outback travel. Both these people were amazing. They took on board what it was we wanted in the way of time to paint and accommodated our every whim.

We visited the Pink Pub at Oodnadatta, flew over Lake Eyre from William Creek, and visited it on foot too at Halligans Bay. We stayed at Marree, and visited the ghost town of Farina. Arriving safely at Arkaroola, John and Chris took us to two beautiful places to paint, Stubbs Waterhole - red cliffs, white sand, grey rocks and a partly dried up waterhole, and the Pinnacles two pointed cliff faces rising out of the surrounding hill. So much amazing work was done on this tour It was just wonderful to see and I was so happy that I had chosen this journey to travel and paint.

Wilpena Pound- two more days painting. On the last night, we had our fun night and final show and tell. I couldn’t believe the talent on this tour. Some read poetry they had written en route, Everyone dressed up to the theme ‘come as something out of one of Hans Heysons paintings’ a difficult task, but we had some of the most imaginative ideas happening that night.

On the way back to Adelaide, the cream on the cake was a visit to ‘The Cedars’, Hans Heysons house. It was a long drive but Chris and John got us there in time for a tour of the house and studios. It was just wonderful!

Once in Adelaide we languished in a 5-star Hotel with sea views, and lots of luxury around us, thinking of our journey through such harsh country, and the paintings we had done, and the experience we’d had, most times painting in coats and hats with the cold wind blowing around us. We started out as a number of people who wanted to paint the outback, and ended up as comrades who painted, absorbed it, and shared the whole experience together.

Val Johnson

Painting at Rainbow Valley.