Leigh Oates

This painting represents different areas on the west coast of Tasmania from Preminghana down as far as Temma. The white circles are a representation of an area where the old fellas would hunt seal. They would move the stones to make hides (an area where the stones have been moved to make a pit so the hunters could hide out of sight) and they would wait in these hides until the seals came up onto the rocks to bathe in the sun. When the seals fell asleep they would sneak up out of their hides and club them for food. The four sections with the smaller white circles surrounded by the red earth circles represent the hides themselves, the club can been seen in the bottom of the hide. The Red Earth line through the centre represents the mark made when the seals where dragged away from the waters edge. The fourteen circle shapes are just some of the rock engravings (petroglyphs) that are found in this area. The seal hides, drag marks and petroglyphs can still be seen today.