Ethel Clarke Art

is professionally printed with premium inks, on superior quality Ilford prestige, smooth cotton, matt rag paper that has a slight texture, enhancing the watercolour finish. The artwork is designed, made, printed and is by nature reflective of the diversity and beauty of the state of Western Australia. All our prints, mounts, framing, web design, business cards, and Gift Cards are made locally in Esperance.  It is our policy to support and shop local.

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Lake Yanchep is set in Yanchep National park 26 miles from Perth, Western Australia. Originally inhabited by the Noongar aboriginal people it was a hunting site for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. Yanchep is noted for its caves, native flora, fauna and koala colonies. The tribal name for the park is Nyanyi-Yandji after the reeds and lake which were thought to resemble the hairy mane of the dreamtime creature the Waugu. The word Yanchep is derived from Yandjip or Yanget the aboriginal language for the local bulrush reed found fringing the lakes in the area. The artist, Ethel Clarke came from England arriving in Australia after the war in 1946. The two grass trees and what appears to be the ghost of a once living Banksia tree in the foreground of the piece would have been quite distinctly a "Glimpse of Another World."

Interestingly, Ethel Clarke painted both the Great Gate as can be seen below, and this piece the Lesser Gate and the irony is not lost on the fact that it has often been said that the University of Western Australia’s Perth campus has a long and proud history as a ‘university without gates'. The architect of the day designed an open and welcoming campus for all students, and the results today sees beautiful heritage-listed gardens and buildings, that are a major drawcard for students, researchers teachers and visitors from across Asia and the globe.

This iconic landmark on the shore of the Swan River in Crawley, Western Australia is painted by Ethel Clarke and thankfully gives an idea of the building in its original colours, depicting the natural jarrah weatherboard wooden walls, a red rusty roof and the original small windows that are close to the original green door.   This beautiful visual replica of its original condition in 1953 is testimony to its popularity even in those days.   Then, for decades it was lay derelict, an eyesore to which locals paid little attention. In 2000 it was restored and is now known around the world as #blueboathouse due to the astonishing amount of 'selfies' that has bought her back to life.  And she has risen to the occasion as it provides a stunning backdrop for photographers around the world and is the second most photographed spot in Perth.  Positioned below Mount Eliza, the Ethel Clarke collection also exhibits a wonderful piece of the Perth skyline painted in 1948 just five years before she painted the Blue Boat House.

Mount Bakewell is in the region of York named by JS Clarkson during an expedition in October 1830 because of its similarity to his own county in England, York County. Throughout the 19th century the area produced sheep and grain farming, sandalwood, and horse breeding. York boomed during the gold rush as it was one of the last rail stops before the walk to the goldfields. The beautiful town shadowed by mount Bakewell attracts tourists for its beauty, history, buildings, festivals and art. A place Clarke would have felt right at home.

'Afterglow' is part of this beautiful series of works by Ethel Clarke, she reported “Top of Newspaper House in St George’s Terrace, looking towards the narrows with Mount Eliza and Kings Park on the right” 1953

A view of the north eastern side of The Great Gate depicting the old administration building and adjoining Winthrop Hall at the University of Western Australia’s Crawley campus. Ethel Clarke has the flanking towers of the Gate that are square at the base and octagonal at the top, which was reportedly likened to the Tudor gateways of Oxford and Cambridge colleges. Between these towers is The mosaic, known as the ‘Five Lamps of Learning’, and features five figures who each represent one of the virtues of wisdom, understanding, counsel, courage and knowledge. Cited: Rodney Alsop, "The Architecture of the Hackett Buildings", in Opening of Winthrop Hall: Commemorative Volume and Official Programme, 1932). These days the university has green open spaces that are also an essential part of the campus’ character and a significant physical asset to the University.

Rottnest is the home of the world famous Quokka, a happy furry marsupial that have made their home in what Ethel Clarke describes as “sand hills typical of the island”. As well as many unique plant and animal species, Western Australia Rottnest Island’s picturesque scenery with some of the world's finest beaches and bays, located just 19 kilometres off the coast of Fremantle, the town that won the America's Cup, The Island has long been a holiday destination for local Perth people and visitors. It is no wonder that Ethel Clarke chose this special place to paint two of her works.

Painted from the old jetty at Freshwater Bay Claremont, Ethel Clarke caught a very whimsical moment as a dog watches His Master’s Yacht. This beautiful piece reflects a moment in the 1950’s and has refractions of his masters voice about another dog and his master of that period.

This 1946 watercolour of the fledgling City of Perth Skyline was one of Ethel Clarke's earliest paintings and a time long past compared to today.  Noticeably, the Old Town Hall's steeple on the corner of Hay and Barrack Streets was when completed in 1870, the highest building along the city streets, and the only Town Hall to be built by convicts in Australia. Following the road down to the waters edge is the Barrack Street Jetty where many a family later caught the ferry across the Swan River to the Zoo in South Perth.   Next to the Barrack Street Jetty is the first site of the Royal Perth Yacht Club before moving to Matilda Bay.  Today  Perth's foreshore has the new precinct named Elizabeth Quay and the Swan Bells.

One of Ethel Clarke's paintings listed here and named "Afterglow" was painted from the top of Newspaper House in 1953.  It has a view across the Swan River as it meanders all the way down to Fremantle.  It is possible to catch a ferry from the Barrack Street Jetty to the ever popular Rottnest Island, of which Ethel Clarke also painted a couple of times in 1948.

This "Grey Day" with two Black Faced Cormorants sitting on the old jetty at Blackwalls Reach Perth is a gorgeous piece denoting what looks like a very cloudy day near the Lower Swan River as it meanders its way to the port of Fremantle.

 

While Canal Rocks was the open air museum of geological features and rocks of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge and surrounded by the powerful forces of wind and water that have helped to shape them, Ethel Clarke painted there fury and named her piece Force Opposed.  Clarke visited the area long before recently upgraded paths and narrow bridges allow visitors to carefully clamour over the rocks and marvel at the ocean’s power. The Aboriginal name for Canal Rocks is Winjee Sam. Thousands of years of the Indian Ocean surging and crashing against this section of granite coastline has chiselled out a narrow channel between the granite rocks and swirling water of pools and lagoons. Canal Rocks is also known among locals as a great spot for salmon fishing as the giant fish travel through the canal at rapid speeds, and if you're lucky, they bite your line for quite the fight.

From ancient Aboriginal habitation to one of Western Australia’s most popular tourism destinations, visitors can gain an insight into Rottnest Island’s rich history by visiting the many historic sites. And that’s the wonder of Rottnest island because there are just some things that never change including it’s natural features like Ethel Clarke's depiction of a Salt lake on the Island.  This Rottnest Lake painting is still recognisable, some seventy years later and Ethel describes the piece saying the lake and wattle scrub in the foreground as 'typical of the Island.'  However, in this new century photos with the local Quokka being a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat, and like other marsupials of their kind they are herbivorous and nocturnal and very popular with visitors. So it might be that in 1696 when Willem de Vlamingh, a Dutch explorer discovered Rottnest Island and named the island "Rats' Nest" it could well have been due to the many large rats or Quokka's said to be on the island.

Ethel Clarke noted "Autumn Evening" to be just eight miles before Chidlows Well, which was a small waterhole for travelers going east from Midland through Greenmount, and up  past the John Forrest National Park to Chidlow and on.  Named Western Australia's first National Park in 1900, John Forrest and its scenic drives and walk trails through the Darling Scarp is the most likely place Clarke painted this colourful painting though the trees to the Swan Coastal Plain of Perth.

The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range, is a low escarpment running north-south to the east of the coastal plain, some older maps from the 1830s show the scarp labelled "General Darlings Range" which later became The Darling Range, a name the formation was still commonly known in the late 20th century, despite common knowledge that it is actually an escarpment. There is also a tendency of the locals to identify the locations on or to the east of the scarp as being in the "Perth Hills" or as is culturally typical of the Australian vernacular to simply clip their prose to "The Hills".  Clarke noted this piece to be during the burning off season which would explain the beautiful colours of the views through the trees down to the lower sandplains of Perth.

Quiet Moonlight is a striking piece of art depicting Fraser Avenue flickering in moonlight as a lone car from the 1940-50s comes down the avenue, lights revealing its way.  But to those who live in the City of Perth, just one look at this iconic image brings a recognition that they are looking at the entrance and jewel in the crown of Perth's inner city known as King's Park.

Kings Park (Kaarta Koomba) has been a significant place to the Noongar people of the South West region of WA for at least 40,000 years, and we recognise their long history of what is now known as Kings Park or Mount Eliza. Quiet Moonlight is a beautifully crafted watercolour depicting the lemon-scented gum (Corymbia citriodora) trees of Fraser Avenue that extends the warmest of welcomes as it leads the six million visitors a year, from Kings Park Road, West Perth into the major tourist and restaurant precinct of the Park. Further on a short walk leads to the State War Memorial and Western Australian Botanic Garden. Named after the Surveyor-General of Perth, Malcolm Fraser, this century old tree-lined avenue is one of the most visited sites in Perth.  Fraser Avenue was
originally planted with red-flowering gum (Corymbia Ficifolia) to honour Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1898. However, in 1938, most of the red gum trees succumbed to canker disease and were replaced with the now sweet smelling lemon-scented gums. More recently, the interlocking canopies that form this majestic avenue provide a well-photographed or as depicted in Ethel Clarke’s watercolour a romantically painted evening entry statement to the largest inner city park in the world.