Since Hermannsburg Potters was established in 1990, the Indigenous women potters there have achieved a remarkable reputation for their engaging earthenware pots. In a more recent development, the Arrernte women who decorated the pots at Hermannsburg Potters, such as Lindy Rontji, have been turning their attention to reproducing their stories on canvas. Lindy Panangka Rontji was born on 2 February 1962 in the Hermannsburg area. Since she began to exhibit her work in June 1999, Rontji has established a strong reputation, and her work is already in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, both in Canberra. The Hermannsburg School of painting has always featured sites of cultural significance to the Arrernte people. Mt Hermannsburg itself, and Mt Sonder to the north of the Hermannsburg Mission, are two of the most important of these sites, and many images have been made of them over the years since Albert Namatjira first began recording them (see 'Mt Hermannsburg' (Acc. no. 1:1653), 'Mt Hermannsburg, James Range' (Acc. no. 1:1656) and '(Mt Sonder)' (Acc. no. 1:1655)). In this work by Rontji, the striking, purple slopes of Mount Hermannsburg are shown in her imaginary view as if she had been airborne like the cockatoos she depicts. The buff pink section of ground around the waterhole forces the eye to the larger of the cockatoos in flight, and to the edge of the canvas. This cockatoo, counterbalanced by the cockatoo below, is the focus around which the composition revolves. The repetition of the hatched brush strokes on the hillside, the dotting of the trees in the distance and the frieze of bush daisies in the front of the painting all contribute to an intense decorative effect. The Gallery also holds a work by Rontji of Mt Sonder (Acc. no. 2003.163). For information on the Hermannsburg Potters see Acc. no. 1995.014 'Additional information'. Glenn R. Cooke, Research Curator, Queensland Heritage, Nov. 2003.