This is a painting of Birnoo Country – Birnoo is on what is now known as Alice Downs Station and belonged to Lorraine’s paternal grandmother.

Lorraine was taught to paint this Country by her father, Warmun artist Gordon Barney.

Gordon was a skilled stockman, horsebreaker and buckjumper and spent much of his early adulthood mustering cattle through this Country. As a result he was intimately familiar with Birnoo and would take his family, including Lorraine, out on to Country during holidays from station work.

As a result of these trips Lorraine learned of her father and grandmother’s Country and gradually began to paint it herself. Birnoo was also rich in ochre, so these trips could double as ochre collection trips, returning to Warmun with a fresh connection to Country and a renewed batch of ochre.