Paintings from Warmun

Warmun is one of the main centres for east Kimberley Aboriginal art. Artists from Warmun are renowned for their use of natural ochre and pigments on canvas. The artists draw on traditional Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) stories as well as contemporary events and life experiences. For more information about the history of Warmun and the art centres, see Warmun Art and Community.

The best known artists from the region include Rover Thomas and Queenie McKenzie, Patrick Mung Mung, Hector Jandany, Beerbee Mungnari and Jack Britten. Short biographies of many of the artists are given on our Warmun Artists page.

Warmun Art Centre was established in 1998 to represent Warmun artists and the paintings we offer have been selected in cooperation with the centre.

For paintings by artists from other parts of the region, see our Kimberley Paintings section.

The prices below are in Australian dollars and do not include packing, shipping and insurance - use the "Enquire" button to confirm availability of a painting and the cost of shipping. To check the equivalent price in other currencies, use the Currency Conversion link. Warmun paintings are mounted on wooden stretcher frames and must be sent in a flat package. For more details about shopping, see our Shopping and online security section.

Bessie Daylight

Title:	Crocodile and Bat
Price:	$1200.00 in Australia and Export.
PA755, 2009
Natural ochres on canvas, stretched
80 x 100 cm

Bessie Daylight says; "Long time ago in the dreamtime, when all the animals were humans, the crocodile was one of the best dancers. The bat got jealous of him and killed him. All the people chased him into a cave. They poked their spears in the hole, but the bat tricked them. He cut his tongue then put some blood on the edge of the spears and yelled out to make out that they had speared him. All the people were sure that he was dead so they left him. At night he came out of the cave and went off into another place. "That is why the bat lives in the dark in the caves and only comes out at night to feed. The crocodile now lives in the water and can be seen sunning itself on the banks of rivers and creeks."

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Yvonne Martin

Title:	Billabongs
Price:	$1100.00 in Australia and Export.
PA756, 2009
Natural ochres on canvas, stretched
80 x 60 cm

Yvonne Martin says, "In the Dreamtime billabongs or swamps were from Goolabal or Rainbow Snake. Whenever he was angry with people taking too much fish or water lilies from the swamps or billabong he would make the swamps dry and appear in another area away from rivers and creeks."

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Beerbee Mungnari

Title:	Gamanankarr
Price:	$1600.00 in Australia and Export.
PA759, 2010
Natural ochres on canvas, stretched
60 x 60 cm

'This one Gamamankarr, Bamboo Spring, is a gorge. Water all year round on side of that hill [cream coloured shape] runs down to Bamboo Creek. They built a cattle yard near that creek.' Mungnari says Aboriginal people used to cut the stalks of wild bamboo to make spear shafts.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Phyllis Thomas

Title:	Turner River
Price:	$2400.00 in Australia and Export.
PA750, 2009
Natural ochres on canvas, stretched
80 x 80 cm

'All the river going down to Turner River way,' Phyllis Thomas says. The grey shapes are the rivers that run into the Turner River on Thomas' country. The river on the right runs from Springvale station while the river on the left comes from Flora Valley near Halls Creek. The round orange shapes represent the Aboriginal language groups whose country these rivers run through. At the top are Jaru and Gooniyan, on the other side of the river is Phyllis' own language of Gija. The two larger circles down the bottom are language groups further afield: Worla near Doon Doon on the left and Miriwoong in and around Kununurra.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Roberta Daylight

Title:	Purnululu
Price:	$550.00 in Australia and Export.
PA757, 2010
Natural ochres on canvas, stretched
45 x 70 cm

The striped hills and domes of the Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) area are a great influence to Gija people, especially those whose country extends into this special area. Roberta's family comes from Texas Downs Station, to the north of Purnululu. She has painted her interpretation of the unique characteristics of this area in the East Kimberley.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Nancy Nodea

Title:	Red Butte
Price:	$900.00 in Australia and Export.
PA758, 2010
Natural ochres on canvas, stretched
45 x 45 cm

This is a place on Texas country, Nodea's traditional country. There is a cave in Red Butte where a juwarri (witch) lives. She was a girl called Gudbarriya who ran away from Lissadell Station. She went wangala (mad) when she was out hunting for ngarem (wild honey). She came to a bilingarri (white gum) near a little creek where she found the sugarbag. She filled up a billycan with honey and then left it hanging in the tree. She walked through Texas Station and came to the Bow River junction where she collected a lot of bush melon, but Nodea says she 'started to get silly' then, and left them there. She followed the Ord River up to Red Butte and she went into a cave in the hill. The station managers couldn't catch her and she was seen a number of times and said to have horns growing out of her head.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Yvonne Martin

Title:	Bugabul
Price:	$1600.00 in Australia and Export.
PA762, 2008
Natural ochres on canvas, stretched
100 x 80 cm

'In the Dreamtime the Bugabul (porcupine) was a very good food for the Aboriginal people,' Yvonne Martin says. 'At night when the full moon was high in the sky the porcupine went out hunting for its food. The old people knew that the porcupine would be out hunting for its food, the black ants that lived in the holes of old anthills. They would then hunt the porcupine at night for their food and would spear them and take the porcupine back to the camp where it was cooked and shared among the family tribal groups.'

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Mabel Juli

Title:	Kurlmi
Price:	$3400.00 in Australia and Export.
PA763, 2006
Natural ochres on canvas, stretched
45 x 120 cm

In the Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming), Karnkiny the Fishing Man or Kurlmi went out fishing to this one fishing spot. He got all the fish and separated the big ones from the little ones. He chucked all the big fish away in another river and kept all the little fish. They swam down this hill in the Ngarrangkarni and you can still see them there today (in stone). When you go fishing at this spot you can only catch little fish. This is Mabel's Country, Darrajayin (Springvale Station). Karnkiny is depicted as the yellow oval shape. The brown shapes surrounding him are the parlel (blood rock).

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55