The painting was about four foot by three and had a background of pointillist dots in varying shades of ochre. In the centre there was a big blue circle with several smaller circles scattered around it. Each circle had a scarlet rim around the perimeter and, connecting them, was a maze of wiggly, flamingo- pink lines that looked a bit like intestines.
Mrs Lacey switched to her second pair of glasses and said, ‘What you got here, Stan?’
‘Honey- ant,’ he whispered in a hoarse voice.
‘The honey- ant’, she turned to the Americans, ‘is one of the totems at Popanji. This painting’s a honey- ant Dreaming.’
—Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, 1987.
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