Earlier this year I visited Chillagoe in FNQ with a local school group on an art camp. Chillagoe is west of Cairns. It used to be a thriving mining town but is now quieter, yet full of character. Outstanding features of the environment were the numerous anthills protruding from the red earth, the black chimney stack dominating the horizon and quirky hand-painted signage oozing with character. It was hot, dusty and dirty. One of the students was overheard claiming ‘it’s too hot for life’. However the unique beauty of Chillagoe outweighed any discomfort.

At the entrance of the township there is a sign indicating that you are to stop your vehicle to ‘drop your dust’ prior to driving in.  Travelling on the dirt roads inevitably stirs up loads of dust. Stopping and waiting for a wee minute allows the dust to settle instead of arriving in a ‘your a bit of a dickhead’ cloud of red dirt. This courtesy ritual sets the general pace and nature of the place.

I recently produced a small series of collages in response to this trip that will be featured in an exhibition of the students’ resulting work.

Chillagoe Studies, 2015, mixed materials on paper