Matt Huttlestone Hardies Creek, Northern Territory

Hardies Creek is a small tributary within the greater Berry Springs catchment area, approximately 80 kilometres south of Darwin. For most of the year it is nothing more than dry stones and cracked mud. However, scattered along its way are a few small (semi) permanent waterholes. These provide vital yet precarious relief and nourishment for a great variety of life forms.

In this painting I wanted to describe the way the creek meanders through and around the burnt tree stumps and Livistonia palms as if slivering its way down to the greater water source of Berry Springs, seeking its own form of nourishment.

I find this landscape brutally harsh and stark, yet bursting with life and spirit – difficult but beautiful. And I kind of love it.

- Matt Huttlestone