Mick Quilliam

This painting shows a rafting trip I did in 2013 on the Herbert River near Cairns in Far North Queensland. The circles with dots depict each night’s camp sites. The symbols are petroglyphs from Tasmania. The spiral symbol means gathering. The 2 joined circles are ceremony and the other oval shape with flicks surrounding is a spirit symbol. All the people painted represent the 30 people on the rafting trip. It’s very unusual to have so many – it’s normally only 12. But we had an amazing connection to the country and each other.