In this painting, like most of my floral paintings, the flowers and plants represent people.  In this case the plants are an entire community having just survived a trauma, represented by the blackened plants that have been charred as if by fire. 

However, the plants did not completely die in the fire.  The blue and white centers of the flowers along with the red dots within the stems of the plants, assert that there is life and hope still within the plants.

The “fire” the plants survived through is the series of trauma and assaults on Aboriginal culture and languages.   How we survived is represented by the connection between the plants - we helped each other.  Each community had to pull together as one in order to survive. 

The white and yellow outlines that border the black stems of the flowers symbolize the spirit realm.  These ‘spirit lines’ surround the community and act as a positive force - an energy that encourages our people to continue through adversity.