View from the roof, oil 20 x 15cm

Tree and fence, oil 15 x 20cm

Ibis by an empty pool, Sydney, oil 20 x 15cm

Boulder resting in a forest, oil 20 x 26cm

Apartment building with waiting taxi, oil 20 x 15cm

The Rabbits, from Opera to Pitjantjatjara

Promotional image for The Rabbits, Opera Australia and Barking Gecko Theatre Company

Today sees the premier of a new opera based on The Rabbits (a picture book I created with John Marsden back in 1998) as part of the Perth International Arts Festival. It's a collaboration between Opera Australia and Barking Gecko Theatre Company, directed by John Sheedy – who also directed a successful stage adaptation of The Red Tree a few years ago – written by Lally Katz and singer-songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke. Large scale sets and characters are designed by Gabriela Tylesova, partly inspired by my illustrations. Like the book, it's a story intended to appeal equally to adults and children, dealing with themes of colonisation and dispossession within a mythical universe of animals. You can learn a little more about this production here: 

 http://dailyreview.crikey.com.au/video-kate-miller-heidkes-the-rabbits/18906

Both John Marsden and myself have had little involvement with this production, having granted the creators full freedom to draw inspiration from our book in any way they wish, which is often the best way of approaching the question of adaptation, since it is essentially about creating new work. I'm looking forward to seeing it when it travels to Melbourne later in the year, and in the meantime send my best wishes and appreciation to all the cast and crew. Chookahs!(break a leg!)

At the same time, a rather different adaptation, but one no less significant: a translation of The Rabbits into Pitjantjatjara, a Western Desert language from Central Australia. Although The Rabbits has been translated into several languages internationally, from Spanish to Korean, this is perhaps the first Indigenous translation. Many thanks to the year 9 and 10 students of Wiltja Secondary College in Adelaide, who write:

"We enjoyed your book 'The Rabbits' very much. We wanted Pitjantjatjara kids to be able to understand the story, so we have spent a lot of time translating it into our language. Even though this is a sad story, we hope Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people can understand our history better through this book."

You see their work here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0fXDeKKCeI&feature=youtu.be

Brunswick brown, oil 20 x 15cm

Building site, oil 20 x 15cm

Santa Monica 5, oil 20 x 15cm

Third time's the charm. I think this one best captures the spatial relationship of elements in this landscape: highway, beach, buildings, sky, pier and ferris wheel.

Santa Monica 4, oil 15 x 20cm

Santa Monica 3, oil 15 x 20cm

Short story in the Griffith Review

Things you see on the job, acrylic & digital, 2014

'Crocodiles Live On The 87th Floor', a short story (ie. two pages, as I often like to keep them) is included in the Griffith Review's latest edition, Looking West, with a focus on Western Australia, and how its culture has been shaped by isolation and mining booms, among other things. For me it's a place with a very abstracted relationship with nature, and this is partly what my story is about.

Santa Monica 2, oil 15 x 20cm

Santa Monica 1, oil 15 x 20cm

Black river, oil 20 x 15cm

Pink studio with open door, oil 15 x 20cm

Little cup, oil 15 x 20cm

Night in Taiwan, oil 15 x 20cm

Union Street, afternoon, oil 15 x 20cm

Rules of Summer Exhibition, Perth

Never give your keys to a stranger (detail), oil on canvas, 2012

For Perth people interested in Rules of Summer, you can see a selection of eight original paintings – which are much larger than they appear in the book – at the State Library of Western Australia. It's a free exhibition that runs until January 27.