Stories from the river mouth by Doreen Hart

This work is acrylic on canvas and measures 101.6 centimetres high by 76.2 centimetres wide. The work is unframed and displayed on a wallpaper with a design by fellow Hope Vale artist, Madge Bowen, who is now deceased. Her family have provided permission for her artwork and name to be incorporated into the exhibition in this way.

The painting is a bird’s eye view looking down upon a river mouth, with a deep blue river running from the top edge of the work to the bottom. In the bottom left a boat enters the river mouth and inside the boat is a figure in a pink dress, behind her is a red square container. Moving upwards from the bottom left-hand corner is a white land mass with mangroves hugging the shoreline, their root systems exposed. Continuing up the left side of the work nine black birds fly overhead. In the top right hand corner there is a grey body of water rimmed with yellow sand and bulrushes, tall grass-like wetland plants that thrive along the edges of waterways.

A concentration of white sea birds perch in the mangrove's branches whilst other white sea birds move over the river in three different formations, all moving in the same direction their wings outstretched in flight.  From the top left hand corner down to the bottom right hand corner runs a long, narrow stretch of warm yellow sand. The top half of the beach is crowded with palm trees and mangroves whereas the bottom half displays a shoreline that is more clear of vegetation, in this section 4 boats are moored in a row, each with a motor at their stern.

Moving from top to bottom, the boats are coloured green, red, blue and orange and all have vertical white stripes across their surface. Three figures can be seen on the beach, one carries a blue container, another kneels by a shelter, tending to a campfire and the third walks towards the river with a spear, where three pink fish are visible in the water. Further up the river towards the top swim another two schools of pink fish, one group of four and another of three fish. Near the centre of the river a solitary crocodile swims downstream. The scene is thrumming with life, activity and abundance.

Doreen Hart was born in 1957 in Hope Vale, where her journey in art began through the encouragement of her artistic friends. Inspired after attending a textile workshop at the Hope Vale Arts and Culture Centre, she has continued to hone her skills and build her confidence in drawing and painting. Her clan groups are Binthi Warra and Bulgan Warra, and her Totems are Gaalaya (Centipede) and Mirrgi (Night Owl).