In the remote country of Far North West Queensland, the landscape is uncompromising — intense blue skies, iron-rich red earth and hardy trees shaped by heat and drought.

A solitary ghost gum stands starkly against this vast landscape, its pale trunk catching the light. Nearby sits the rusted remains of an old abandoned car. Its presence adds an intriguing human trace to an otherwise timeless landscape — leaving the viewer to wonder about its story and how long it has rested there.

I was captivated by the contrasts: the luminous white of the ghost gum against the deep reds of the earth and the extraordinary blue of the outback sky. The painting is as much about light, colour and the resilience of the Australian landscape as it is about the rusted relic left behind.