My Country (Bush Seeds) - Kathleen Petyarre

Kathleen Petyarre's painting depicts the sacred country of the Thorny Devil Lizard Ancestor. This Dreaming site is situated in the artists' father's country, which is identified by a group of sand-hills which rise majestically from the desert floor. The country is located near the vicinity of Mosquito Bore at Utopia in the eastern desert of central Australia.

My Country - Then and Now, represents an aerial view composition of Kathleen Petyarre's homelands. The overall dotting depicts sand-plains and sand-hill country with spinifex and a variety of summer bush flowers.

The prominent parallel lines at the top of this work are representational of "Awenth" (Acacia coriace - dogwood), a small shrubby tree 3 - 6 m high, which grows on the desert savannah.

The "Awenth" is a valuable food source to the desert dwellers. The women harvest the seeds or pods before they are fully ripened. The seeds are then lightly roasted on a burning spinife tussock, which dries up the bitter juices, allowing them to be easily opened and which gives them a pleasant smoky flavour.

The collected seeds are ground and mixed with water to produce a highly desired milk and edible paste. The timber of the "Awenth" is especially favoured by the Anmatyerre people for making fine boomerangs and small spears.