Once again we bring you a range of prints from some of Australia`s leading artists, including Arthur Boyd, Frank Hodgkinson and David Larwill.

"The faces of Australian workers, miners, stockmen, aboriginal people and their customs, the outback, the red dirt, and Oh! of course always romance, fascinate me.

"Born in Kalgoorlie, had my babies in Darwin, worked in the Pilbara, the Kimberley, and the Gascoyne - red dirt is in my blood, and people are always in my mind, so that is what I paint."

We welcome back Tracie Barbour with her new exhibition.

Her paintings are still a testament to her love of the beach, but her other interests, such as angels and her whimsical witches, continue to display her humorous streak.

The Warli tribe are based in a few small villages near Mumbai (Bombay) in India`s Maharashtra state. Once hunters, they are now fishers and rice-farmers, with lives governed by the monsoons.

They practice a simple yet vivid painting style, believed to have originated sometime around the 10th century A.D. However, considering its simplicity in form and figure, it may date back to the Neolithic era between 2,500 BC and 3,000 BC. Warli paintings express everyday life using extremely basic forms and, traditionally, just one color (white) on a sober mud base.

Unlike almost any other school of painting, Warli art does not use mythical or religious imagery. Rather, it rejoices in the celebration of simple folk life and its mundane customs. Thus, their pictures show the everyday activities of the Warli, such as weddings, festivals, farming and building houses.

Traditionally, married women only would apply these pictures, using rice-flour on the mud and dung coverings of their huts. In recent decades, with the art world`s discovery of the Warli, men have started to paint, and the Warli have started to use a wider range of colours and media, including cloth, paper and pottery.

Showcasing the work and imagination of Pamela Fenton, these paintings are on display in our gallery throughout May 2006.

Tracie Barbour studied fine arts at the University of Ballarat and Carine TAFE in WA, where she found great encouragment from Brian Simmonds and Bill Hawthorn. She paints in watercolours, pastels, oils and acrylics.

"My passion for art is stimulated by the beautiful WA coast and digital photography. I love taking pictures of my children and garden for inspiration. The fantasy world of witches, fairies and angels is also another area of my art I love to  paint. Humour and bright colours inspire me. I include this in my whimsical paintings."

A number of different themes appear in Bill Hawthorn`s work. One of these has been an interest in Landscape, especially in challenging landforms where he seeks to find the drama and spiritual elements that may be revealed under certain lighting and atmospheric conditions.

Another recurring theme is the inner world of visions and dreams. These paintings and drawings depict an imaginary landscape sometimes inhabited by human figures that can be seen as space and time travelers of either heroic or comic dimensions.

Alma paints with oils, acrylics and watercolours, sculpts both wood and soapstone, and practices both jewellery and fabric painting. She is also an accomplished and popular storyteller.

Whatever her medium, her Aboriginal culture and background are never far away.

Ella always liked drawing as a child, but never started any formal classes until 1978. Since then, she`s entered into, and placed (winning the Encouragement Award, as well as 2nd and 3rd Prizes) in the Tweed Heads Rotary Club`s Arts Competitions in New South Wales, and has exhibited at the Bedford Art Society, and at Ellis House, in Bayswater.

After a period working in oils, she has now settled on watercolour and ink under the tutelage of well known Perth artist and teacher, Ron Tassell

Shirley Winstanley enjoys painting and capturing the essence of a scene on site. She`s passionate about light and shade, colour and form, and delights in what she calls "playing with paint". With wide interests, she has lately focussed on landscapes, streetscapes and portraits. She prefers acrylics, loving their immediacy, but also enjoys the buttery consistency and richness of oils.

Shirley`s first solo exhibition in August 2004 was well attended and supported. She is planning her second solo in December 2005, following an invitation as an Artist-in-Residence in Italy where she will paint the surrounding landscape and some of the local citizens.