This painting is about Aboriginal people coming to their end of their journey.

Going back to Country is important when Aboriginal people are terminally ill.

They are always thinking about going back to their first home and visit the special places where they grew up as kids. They long to get out of town and go bush and smell the fresh air.

Going bush heals the soul, it gives a fresh feeling of youthfulness. It clears all the negative thoughts and gives a strong feeling of connection to the land.

Going back to your first home on a cattle/sheep station where our parents worked and walking into the old tin house is very healing. All the memories flood back to you of when you were a child. A lot of happy memories of Mum washing our clothes in the old copper tub, memories of sitting around the old wood stove as Dad cooked us porridge on the cold mornings, memories of finding horseshoes on our walks through the bush, memories of sitting around an old fire bucket, memories of the wildflowers and the old kurrajong tree out back.

Leeann Kelly/Pedersen