Peter Overs

This painting shows the birthplace of the artist at the junction of the Condomine & Balonne Minor Rivers in south west Queensland. This is emu country created by the ancestral emu man. Peter shows the footprints of the emu man as he moved about that country creating the geography. Once he had finished the creation he became an emu as we know it today. This country is rich in quandong – a bush plum that grows well in this region. The red items are the quandong fruit and the yellow items are the quandong seeds. The emu has an interesting relationship to the quandong in that the emus like eating this fruit. The seed however will not germinate unless it has passed through the acid stomach of the emu. The emu scatters these seeds about the country thus regenerating its food source.