SKU: 89417588366

"My Country" by Robb Wilson

$582.75 $647.50
Save 10%
No.2 Bestseller on watersyst.com >

Pay in installments of $161.88 with ShopPay, AfterPay and Klarna

Shipping Estimate
USA
  • USA
  • CAN

Ships within 48 hours · Estimated delivery Aug 18 - Aug 23

Promo Codes Available:

For Your Every Summer RSVP, with Code: SUMMER15

Description

"My Country" by Robb WilsonAcrylic on Canvas Size: 90 x 46 cm Free Worldwide Shipping Robb Wilson is a very proud WYGULKAIP MAN Born in the small Wheatbelt Town of Narrogin on 25 09 1957, Robb and his family shifted to Mount Barker also in the south West of Western Australia where he was educated and started his working life as a shearer. He went on to start his own shearing team and work the width and breadth of this huge country. He is married, has 3 children, and 15 years

Acrylic on Canvas

Size: 90 x 46 cm

Free Worldwide Shipping

Robb Wilson is a very proud WYGULKAIP MAN Born in the small Wheatbelt Town of Narrogin on 25/09/1957, Robb and his family shifted to Mount Barker also in the south West of Western Australia where he was educated and started his working life as a shearer.

 He went on to start his own shearing team and work the width and breadth of this huge country. He is married, has 3 children, and 15 years ago shifted his family to Kalgoorlie-Boulder where he helped his brother get a taxi business up and running. He also opened a Fish and Chip shop for 1 of his children to run. That dreaded disease, sugar diabetes has wreaked havoc with his health so he thought "why not", I will try painting and it has just exploded. He has sold pieces all over the world. Not bad for a man who is self-taught and has only been at it since the pandemic hit in 2000.           

 Living in Kalgoorlie and its surroundings can be an unforgiving, rugged experience, especially for those in the mining industry who face daily stressors such as relationships and mental health.

 This collection of works by established Kalgoorlie artist Rob Wilson aims to both highlight and celebrate life in this country, from its beautiful landscapes to the people and characters that live in the WA Goldfields.

 The Kangaroo is one of the most iconic animals in Australia, this is for good reason; they hold incredible cultural importance for many First Nations people. They have always been vital to Indigenous people's way of life as both an important source of food and as part of cultural rituals and Dreamtime stories.

 When an Aboriginal person speaks of their Kangaroo Dreaming they are trying to convey a profound, intimate connection they feel with that animal deep within the recesses of their soul and their consciousness. That kangaroo may be an Elder, Teacher, Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Son or Daughter and as one might expect with any family or tribe there is a deep, abiding sense of community with all of the nuances that relationship entails.

 This inexplicable feeling of kindred feelings that Indigenous peoples feel towards their fellow creatures transcends the confines of Western science with its limited understanding of what constitutes ‘knowledge’.

 Goanna – The Protector

In many Aboriginal cultures, the goanna is a Creator spirit in Dreamtime stories. Like other animals that are central to life, they also hold a totemic status, form part of ceremonies and feature in parables ranging from how to conduct oneself to how and when to hunt.

 Rainbow Serpent

 The Rainbow Serpent (Serpant) dreaming in Aboriginal society represents one of the great and powerful forces of nature and spirit. Connected to water, the Rainbow Serpent is the great life giver, and protector of water, which is his spiritual home.

 For Aboriginal people of the desert, the Rainbow Serpent lives in the waterholes of their country, and travels between them, either under the ground or in the storm clouds when a rain storm is moving. His presence brings on the rains and if he is offended he can prevent the rains and cause drought or inundations that cause people to perish.

Waterhole

 Water sources are sacred places to Aboriginal people of the desert, and each waterhole has a Creation story from the Dreaming attached to it. The Creation story gives the waterhole and the people who are its custodians a common bond and obligation. While traditionally Aboriginal people are nomadic in the sense that they follow the seasons in searching out native plants and hunting native animals, they stay within their own clan estates.

 This is the territory ‘owned’ by individual families, who have an intricate knowledge of the country and its resources. Waterholes found on their country are known precisely, from their Creation story through to the sense of whether the water will be present or drying up.

Shipping Notes
  • Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
  • Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
  • Delivery to the USA:
  1. Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
  • If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
  • We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
  • Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
  • To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
  • Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
SKU: 89417588366

Discover Niche Categories That Outsell

Top-Converting Item to Boost Your Average Order

4.5 ★★★★★
Based on 5 reviews
Sort
Highest Rating
Newest First
Oldest First
Product Reviews
A
Verified Purchase
Anne Mills
Draper, US
★★★★★ 5
Great Reading, Mind Opening
Format: Kindle
This is a terrifically interesting and entertaining book, which presented me with at least two blockbuster ideas that changed the way I think about the past. I'll get to those in a minute, but first a few general points. Charles Mann is a science journalist:who seems to specialize in BIG topics. His 2005 book ("1491", which argues that the pre-Columbian population of the Americas was much larger and more sophisticated than generally assumed), was very well received. I enjoyed it so much, and thought it so valuable a book, that I was very anxious to read "1493". "1493" lived up to my (high) expectations. Mann is remarkable writer, with an extraordinary ability to present very complex facts and ideas in way that's not just accessible to the lay reader, it's fun for the lay reader. This isn't to say that the book isn't carefully researched -- the text is followed by almost 100 pages of footnotes, and throughout he cites and acknowledges the scientists and others from whom he has drawn information. It's just that Mann manages to combine a myriad of facts and hypotheses into a compelling narrative. And he often puts this in very concrete terms, focussing on individual people, commodities or events. It adds up to a fascinating read. It is also a very important one, with implications for the future as well as about the past. Mann's subject in this book is the Columbian Exchange, the sudden movement of plants, microbes, animals and people between the eastern and western hemispheres after Columbus' voyage to the Americas in 1492. A well known effect of this was the eastern hemisphere adoption of western hemisphere foods (tomatoes, potatoes, chocolate, coffee, and on and on). Another effect that's only been recently come to be widely understood is the devastating impact on the pre-Columbian population of the Americas; as many as 80% died in the epidemics that followed the introduction of diseases to which they had no immunity. But the population die-off and the exchange of plant species are not the only effects of the Columbian Exchange. Mann's book explores the myriad ways in which the Exchange -- globablization -- has shaped the world of today. Two things I learned from the book struck me particularly. First, like most Americans of my generation (older) I learned in school that the colonization of the Americas was carried out by white people, who moved into a largely uninhabited continent. "1491" took care of the uninhabited: "1493" takes care of the white. Mann says that from 1500 to 1840, about 3.4 million white Europeans emigrated to the Americas. Over the same period, about 11.7 million captive Africans were sent to the Americas. Except for New England, much of the United States and most of Latin American was far more black than white. (And probably in 1840 still more Indian/Native American than anything else). The racial balance changed as white immigration ramped up and as millions upon millions of blacks died too young, but the picture of early America looks very different to me now. Secondly, Mann discussed at length the 19th century ecological disaster that engulfed China. I had always assumed that the floods that killed so many millions in China had always happened, and were the result of geography. There have indeed always been floods, but their severity and human cost grew logarithmically in the 19th century. New crops led to more food and to rising population growth, and at the same time to more potential cash crops, increasing the pressure on existing land holdings, and leading to vast land clearances. That made the floods far worse when they came, undermining the political structure and compounding China's problems. This was interesting not just a light on the past, but as a warning signal for the future. The review is already too long, so, to sum it up: Great book!! Read it!! Give it to friends and family!!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2013
S
Verified Purchase
Scott Charles
Waukegan, US
★★★★★ 5
LOVED This Read! Blew Me Away
Format: Hardcover
What a fantastic read! Woah. All of the Americas have an extraordinary history. I was mesmerized from beginning to end. If you like knowing your history, you will love this book. Well researched and smartly written. Couldn't put it down. Books like this are why people love to read. If you think you know the Americas, you might be surprised to find that there's more, and be prepared for a bit of a shake up. This book was a real eye opener.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2025
J
Verified Purchase
James Ferguson
Los Angeles, US
★★★★★ 4
A Brave New World
Format: Hardcover
It wasn't quite what I expected, but Charles Mann leads the reader on a fascinating journey in the wake of Columbus, focusing mostly on the environmental impact of his "discovery" of the New World. Mann literally spans the globe, as the establishment of Spanish colonies in the Americas would have far reaching consequences. Most interesting to me was how silver came to be the currency of exchange, allow Spain to trade with China, when it established its trading outpost in the modern-day Philippines. Along with silver, came corn, rubber and potatoes which would radically alter the landscape of the world. Mann discusses how corn came to replace rice for many Chinese, and how rubber trees would be transplanted to Indochina, bringing with them unsuspected pests that would wreak havoc on ecosystems. In this sense, the book has similarities with Jared Diamond's but explores different terrain. One of the most interesting chapters was on the highly profitable mining of bird guano and how the British cornered the market in this new fertilizer. Mann describes how the shift to mono-cultures had a tremendous impact on agriculture. At first, these new crops seemed to solve much of the world's food shortages, but then as the Irish famine made all too painfully aware, putting all your "eggs in one basket" can lead to devastating consequences as an unforeseen blight wiped out much of Ireland's food supply. Mann also offers a long study on how slavery evolved and re-shaped the ethnic identity of many countries, particularly those in Central and South America. The miscegenation that took place, with particular focus on Brazil, reshaped cultural patterns and changed the political dynamics in these countries. He offers a number of intriguing case studies, and discussed the long term impact of this human cross-pollination. 1493 is a fascinating study and meditation on life after Columbus. We don't fully realize how rapidly the world changed after this fateful "discovery," and how continents became so interdependent, where before they had been relatively isolated from each other.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2012
R
Verified Purchase
Russell C.
Fort Morgan, US
★★★★★ 5
Great History book
Format: Paperback
This book was a gift for husband. He loves it. He is a slow reader, but he can’t put book down. New and interesting history facts and stories.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2026
J
Verified Purchase
John D. Cofield
Houston, US
★★★★★ 5
Consequence After Consequence
Format: Hardcover
"In Fourteen Hundred Ninety Two, Columbus Sailed The Deep Blue Sea" is a ditty sung by generations of school children. Most of those students learned and believed that Columbus was the only man in Europe who believed the world was round and proved it by sailing three ships west to find the East. In 1493, Charles C. Mann dismisses these legends and goes on to demonstrate that Columbus (or as he refers to him, Colon) and the other Europeans who sailed across the Atlantic in the 1400s and 1500s did far more than just discover a New World, they helped create a planet wide system in which people, plants, animals, and diseases travelled further and were linked in more ways than had ever before been possible. In other words, 1493 was the beginning point of a new age of globalization. This is not a new theory. Alfred W. Crosby developed the term Columbian Exchange back in the 1970s to describe the changes that took place after 1492. Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse also detailed some of the consequences of the European "discovery" of the Americas. What makes Mann's new book so appealing is his ability to tell an engrossing story that ably explains how one consequence led to another, fundamentally changing society after society and helping to creat our modern world. This is global history at its best, jumping from Ming and Qing China's opulent but troubled societies to the fast growing but still relatively backwards European states to the myriad African and Native American cultures, all of them to be affected by the transfer of peoples, plants, diseases, and ideas. Mann has a keen eye for an appealing and informative anecdote which really details the consequences of seemingly small decisions, such as how the introduction of the sweet potato to China led to deforestation, or how the Little Ice Age was affected by the abandonment of the Native American practice of burning off underbrush in North American forests. Its books like 1493, as well as Mann's earlier and equally excellent 1491, which make studying history so fascinating. I taught Advanced Placement World History to high school students for many years before retiring, and I regularly amused them (at least I hope I did) with many references to Jared Diamond and Alfred Crosby's ideas. With 1493 Charles C. Mann deserves equal recognition by global historians.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2011

recommand products

Troian Bellisario Signed Autographed 8x10 Photo Pretty Little Liars Actress COA
59.99
Abus ACH 2.0 6KS Frame Lock Chain
64.99
Daughter of the Chief Kickers
14.00
POC Ultra Bento Bag 0.7 Litre
109.99
Amanda Seyfried Signed Autographed 8x10 Photo Hot Sexy Actress Beckett BAS COA
39.99