Oh for an Ochre
Ochres from the East Kimberley

1 AM 5755/08
David Cox Sing Out Springs 2004
Natural ochre & pigment on canvas 100 x 80cm SOLD
Sing Out Springs lies in Yiyili country on Louisa Downs Station near Halls Creek in the Kimberley. In the
Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) three men were walking in the country near Yiyili. They were visitors to the country
and had not been wlcomed to the country. They came across a large natural spring and bent down to drink of
the cool water. However, in the spring lived a large water snake who was keeper of that country and as the men
bent down to drink the water, the snake ate them up. When a stranger comes to new country they should be
welcomed to that country. The traditional way is to use a rock and dip it in the water and wipe the sides of the
visitor and then throw that rock into the water. This is so the snake can smell the visitor and know that they
have been welcomed. David Cox has painted hills surrounding the waterhole. Yiyili is in David's country