By Samantha Wortelhock
Original Painting and Giclee Canvas Limited Edition Print Size: 800mm x 500mm

The First Hurdle
Two hundred years ago a man walked the red, hot earth
Passing through his songlines spaces
A caretaker for all he sees,
Owning it is not his reality.
He wondered why five emus stood still,
They couldn't run but it felt like home.
A hindrance was standing in their way.
And our man stopped. Puzzled. Spear in hand.
Innocent his attitude. Unable to understand
A hurdle stood on his journey's path
A fence all barbed and taut.
Reaching far in both directions
A scar on land sold and bought

The Story Behind the Painting
I was asked once by someone to paint a painting which would "cash in" on the Olympics (Sydney 2000). I shuddered at the thought but I said that I would have a meditation and if the image existed then I would paint it. As I settled in to my seat I kept seeing one of the most powerful images ever delivered to me in that altered state...the image of the first Aborigine to ever see a fence. The image shocked me and made me sad and took me in to the heart of that person to feel the total puzzle standing before him. A puzzle because the fence's existence was diametrically opposed to the World View of the Aborigine whose belief is that the land owns us and not that we own the land.

I pondered this as I came out of the meditation and I was thrilled that another top painting had been born but then I remembered the request for an Olympic painting...so I went back to the altered meditative state. The next moment cemented my self worth as an artist and my authority as guardian of my work's integrity because the title of the painting was delivered...The First Hurdle. Once again the source of my work had, with humour, reminded me that we are on track with a series of paintings which have a purpose greater than "cashing in". Paintings which will stand the test of time.