What is art…

Art is everywhere, you just have to look! By learning to live in harmony with it, art will show us its beauty and provide us with the emotions it intended to instil in us. Art can be seen in everything and nothing at the same time, but this is what is most beautiful about it - we have no idea where it will appear, whether we are dealing with something that was created to move us, or a work of chance. Art is everything that surrounds us, coming from the hand of man or nature, whatever encourages an emotional response from us is art. These emotions can be different, sometimes extreme, sometimes delicate, and barely noticeable, but their appearance is the proof that you are interacting with a piece of art. Art is everything that moves us, that makes us think and reflect. Its role is to cleanse us and our mind and open it to something new, previously unknown, but has always been in our heads and hearts.

History of Aboriginal Art

For tens of thousands of years, Aboriginal culture and traditions have been passed down from generation to generation through legends, music, dance, and initiation ceremonies. All of this was fleeting, as it was nowhere written or otherwise preserved, and yet it has survived down to the present day. It was the same with art. Examples of ancient Aboriginal Art that have survived to the present day are the rock paintings that can be seen in many sacred sites, scattered throughout Australia. Unfortunately, the majority of traditional Australian Art has been lost because they were never painted on solid surfaces. They were drawn on sand. The images created during ceremonies told, or rather reflected, the stories of the creation of the world by Aboriginal ancestors. These murals were said to also contain secret tribal information that can only be decoded by initiated members of the community. However, to ensure that these disguised messages would not be read by people from other tribes, all works created on the sand were destroyed after the ceremony was over, losing them forever.

The first paintings created by Aboriginal artists, which had a chance to survive for a long time, were created in the 1970s. Inspired by an Australian teacher named Geoffrey Bardon, the People of the Papunya tribe began to transfer their art first to the walls of the school, then to wooden tablets, and finally to canvases. In order not to reveal secret information about their tribe in the created works, the artists abandoned the precise presentation of secret motifs in favour of abstract painting with dots. Because of this style of painting, only the creator of the painting understood the meaning of each painted element, and the rest could admire only the aesthetic side of the painting. And this is still the case today.

There are as many styles in contemporary Aboriginal painting as there are artists. Everyone has a different way of painting. Usually, the image is made of many dots, which are sometimes combined into lines or dashes, other times each dot is separated from the others. The dots also vary in size, clarity, and colour. From what I have learned, the meaning of the colours is consistent: yellow represents the sun, brown represents the earth, red desert is sand, and white represents the sky or clouds. But only the artist who creates his work knows for sure!

Why you will love Raintree Art?

If you love art, and especially Aboriginal Art, you've come to the right place. Here you can acquire paintings; creations from seventeen traditional Australian artists, each with their own unique style. Our paintings range in size from small, through to extra-large, which is large enough to create a feature wall in your home or office. Raintree Art also offers custom picture framing to go with all artworks offered at our gallery. Elevate your purchase of our fantastic aboriginal art with a range of picture framing options. You can also find all your art supply requirements- paints, canvases, brushes and more!

If you want Aboriginal art to accompany you on your life adventure or you are trying to find that unique gift for your friends or family, be sure to explore our impressive collection of gifts and souvenirs with the theme of Aboriginal art. At Raintree Art, you will find everything your heart desires: apparel, bags, wallets, books, cards and gift wrapping, cushion covers, decorations, drink coolers, kitchen items, Christmas items, house numbers and much more. Here you can also immerse yourself in the Australian culture by booking into one of our art classes where you will be taught how to paint in traditional Australian style, or check out the story-telling prowess of Big Al, our resident historian, as you sit around the campfire.

The official website of Raintree Art is intuitive, and organized into easy-to-navigate categories to help you find what you are looking for, or you can make use of the search engine if you already have an idea of what you required. Raintree Art accepts payment in six different currencies using Shop Pay and Google Pay.