Michelle’s father's country is a place called Makiri located east of Ernabella near the Fregon community.This is country istjala tjukurpa (honey ant dreaming). Michelle and her family still visit this country where she draws special attention to the natural elements on the land which are then represented in her paintings; “I am painting the landscape from above, as you might see it from an airplane or as a bird looking down. It is beautiful country both from on the ground and up above.”
When Michelle created her work,ngayuku mamku ngura ini Makiri (my father's country, a place called Makiri) she was thinking of Makiri and how the tjala (honeyants) tunnel though the sandy soil as well as about the waterholes, the assemblages of trees and shrubs and the country that is “quiet”(empty).