Image: 'Black Opal' - Acrylic on Canvas - by Dwayne Wannamarra Wyndier Kennedy

This vibrant abstract is a profound testament to survival and the hard-won connection to Country. It is the artist's ancestral dreaming, born from a family history of resilience in the face of immense loss. The bold colours channel the story of the Dreamtime Serpent, creating beauty and light from the deep, dark earth of Lightning Ridge.

Collection: Continuity Collection
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 100 x 80 x 2 cm (approx. 39 x 31.5 in.)
Year: 2025

Story & Narrative Significance

This painting is a journey into the heart of resilience. It is the artist's traditional dreaming of the Dreamtime Serpent, a story of creation that takes on profound meaning when viewed through the lens of his family's history.

This is not a story of peaceful, intergenerational ownership, but of a hard-won reconnection to Country in the wake of unimaginable loss and atrocities sadly common in Australia's colonial history. The family's presence in Lightning Ridge today is a testament to their absolute strength and survival.

Therefore, the creation of opal in this painting—something precious and full of light, born from the deep, dark earth under immense pressure—becomes a powerful metaphor for the endurance of culture and spirit against all odds. This is a significant work for a collector who understands that true history is complex, and that the most powerful art often rises from a place of deep truth and survival.

Available Here

Art and Growth in Creation

I still remember the pain in my fingertips.

For years, I studied classical guitar, spending countless hours wrestling with the technical demands of the instrument. Each chord was a new contortion, each transition a mental puzzle. The work was all-consuming, a passionate focus on improving the mechanics of the music.

In those early days, I was keenly aware of every mistake, and my learning was defined by the process of correcting those mistakes as quickly as possible. My mind, my muscles, and my will were all focused on one thing: technique.

But then, over time, something miraculous began to happen. The chords found their home in my hands. The transitions became fluid, instinctual.

When Effort Becomes Art

The conscious, cognitive effort began to fade, and the techniques became, as I shared in my video this month, part of an “unconscious repertoire.” My mind was finally free from the ‘how’, and I could begin to truly focus on the ‘why’—the emotion, the story, the soul of the music itself.

This journey from conscious effort to unconscious mastery is the hidden story behind every great work of art. It is true for the musician, the therapist learning the skills of empathy, and most certainly for the painter.

Witness the Beauty - After Years of Growth

When you look at a painting, you are seeing the culmination of thousands of hours of this exact process. The artist has wrestled with the foundational elements of their craft, which we identify in our Artist Process & Prosperity Model as their chosen Tradition, Method, Form, and Medium. They have learned the techniques of how to hold a brush, how to blend paint, how to create the illusion of light and shadow, and how to compose a scene that draws the eye and the heart.

The ultimate goal of all this labour, however, is to make it disappear.

Art is a Disappearing Act

The true master is not the one who shows you how clever their technique is, but the one whose technique is so perfectly integrated that it becomes invisible. What emerges is not the process, but the presence. What you are left with is not an appreciation for the brushwork, but an immediate, intuitive connection to the feeling the artist intended to convey.

Witnessing

So the next time you stand before a painting that moves you, take a moment to appreciate the disappearing act. Know that the effortless beauty you see is the result of immense effort. It is the product of a journey from painful practice to a state of grace, where the artist’s hand, heart, and mind have finally learned to speak in a single, authentic voice.