Shark Bay is part of a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia around 800 kilometres (500 miles) north of Perth, the state capital. With its combination of long coastlines, islands and peninsulas, it is a harsh, unforgiving and yet stunningly beautiful environment. I love the juxtaposition of raw earth, mangrove-fringed lagoons, ancient stromatolites, stark limestone cliffs, white beaches and amazing wildlife (like emus, turtles, dugongs and tiger sharks). The Shark Bay website has some local history notes. The Francois Peron National Park at Shark Bay contains several beautiful lagoons that once were saline lakes cut off from the sea, but which are now shallow estuaries and inland bays. It’s a landscape straight from an artist’s palette—the red dunes of Peron sandstone, the white Tamala limestone sand, the arid grey-green acacia scrub, the deep greens of the mangroves, all set in a blue and turquoise ocean.
The slideshow shows a sample of paintings of the lagoons. You can pause the slideshow by moving your mouse over the main image. If you are interested in purchasing a painting, please note its title and click here.
