While there are now many artists who paint versions of this style, this is a Utopia style originating from one of the greats - Gloria Petyarre.

When Gloria first started painting Leavesin the mid 90’s, it was different to what others in the Eastern and Western Desert were painting. At first it was unintentional, as Gloria tells it, but it quickly became a new approach to painting and a turning point for Aboriginal art.

In 1999, Gloria became the first Indigenous Australian artist to win the Wynne Prize, a major art prize for the best Australian landscape at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

"The yams are small and slender tubers the size of a pencil, and it's the bright green, slightly heart shaped leaves that emerge from the ground and indicate where to find them. This is what Dulcie paints.

She generally starts in the centre of the canvas, dipping her brush into one to two different colours before applying it onto the canvas in brief successions; imitating the heart-shaped, leaf-like designs in blended shades that sweep out and across the surface."

"Gloria's classic Leaves paintings are those made with a small brush. Leaves are meticulously crafted with small, swift brush strokes, usually in a singular layer or distinct, separated layers.

For the 10-20 years before her death in 2021, Gloria largely painted a big bold leaf in a study of colour layered upon layer."