Patsy Ross b. 1975

In this painting, Patsy’s design represents wild
blackberries. Though these plants are not native to Australia, they have become
a beloved bush tucker for Aboriginal people, favoured for their sweetness. They
don’t typically grow in the dry desert climates, but they appear ephemerally in
arid regions after rains. Patsy fondly recalls collecting wild blackberries in
the creek beds around her community of Willowra. Patsy and her family still go
out collecting bush tucker when they go back to their community. It is this -
her country and the abundance it brings her family and community - that Patsy
chooses to depict in her meticulous and precisely painted works. Patsy has an
innate sense of colour and uses this intuition to bring her country to life on
the canvas.