Tucked away in a quiet corner of East Fremantle, The Old Royal George Gallery is a surprise package.  The old hotel building, now heritage listed, is a true community art centre with studios and a magnificent gallery whose high, pressed tin ceilings, creamy walls and lovely timber floor enhance any kind of work displayed there. Five years ago, the artists who occupy the studios upstairs and in the undercroft of the old hotel formed the Old Royal George Artists Foundation (Inc), and this body manages the gallery, which is available for any local artist or groups of artists wishing to show their own work.

Once or twice a year, ORGAF puts on an exhibition of its own work – and the result is a happy, eclectic and interesting display of work that includes paintings, kiln formed glass, ceramics, jewellery, silks and paintings in a variety of styles and media. The overall impression is of strong, vivid colours, with paintings of all sizes ranging from abstract to representational.

Barry Sanbrook’s very individual, strongly coloured abstracts, his wife Denny’s delicate landscapes in acrylic and mixed media, Sandra Perry’s bold brush strokes and strong colours, Ron McCathie’s more subtle abstracts, Jonathan Ackerman’s nudes, Karin Morris’ big landscapes that tend towards the naïve, the voluptuous sense of line that link Mitzi Smith’s life studies and landscapes, the fascination with fabric texture in Amanda Harris’ densely coloured paintings and her delicate blue and white ceramics and Marlene Page’s gloriously coloured silk paintings and silk fabrics, all bring the viewer a sense of the artists’ love of their work and the sheer joy of creating.

Three jewelers, Karen Thompson, Leonie Wilson and Jane Walker offer an equally diverse range of contemporary wearable art, mostly in silver, ranging from small and delicate to strong and bold, and completing the mix are Matthew Goodlet’s works in kiln formed glass, some with small inserts of glowing colours.

The exhibition is open between 11 am and 5pm every day except Monday and Tuesday, and one of the artists will be there to answer any questions a viewer may have.  There are many more works upstairs, as the artists’ studios are also open to the public.