Norval Art Studio

There are lots of indigenous artists in and around Derby. They have been given help and encouragement by Mark Norval and his wife. They run the gallery and set up a studio in the garden on mornings in the week. I believe that Mark came here as a teacher and stayed. Visitors come from all over Australia and can have their purchases shipped home to them.

There were about five or six artists working. I noticed that the women were quite obese, but not the two men. I watched this woman putting dots on her painting. She said it was Day 3 of her work. I asked if I could have a go at placing a few dots:

I preferred the colours on this painting:

This man was carving a Boab nut (more info about this below). I was surprised that he was using an ordinary kitchen knife. Mark told me he had probably lost his best knife, but they were able to carve with anything.

Around the garden:

All about the Boabs:











Some of these are on sale for over $100. It’s very intricate workmanship and must represent hours of work.

More info about the studio here