About Myself
G'day to all you beautiful people here's a little introduction into who I am.
My mob is the Yimen/Jiman mob, located in Central Queensland, Taroom. Our water flow is the Gummoo Wongarra meaning One Water which flows from from the Carnarvon Gorge/ Ranges, down through the land and out to the sea. In the Garingbal tribe my animal totem is the Googoobing, meaning scrub turkey. My first language is English however I am still learning our Ghungalu and Yimen/ Jiman words. I was given a cassette tape by an Elder, which is long lost now, with Ghungalu words and my dad also spoke a little bit of Yimen/ Jiman language. Some words I was able to memorize however most is lost, often my pieces are named with Ghungalu language.
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How my arts career began.
When the 90s hit I had just turned 23 and back in those days the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) helped us find jobs that we were interested in with the help of an Aboriginal consultant. I was a late bloomer to art, I hadn’t ventured out to it as a possibility (as I didn't know I could make the decision to go and paint, I only dreamed about it) but when asked what I wanted to do, I answered, to find an Aboriginal art course to get me started on my art career.
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But my first job was when I was 16, I was mowing lawns in Rocky for $2 a house. Up until I was 23, I had solely done labouring work including city council work, sawmilling, stacking Besser Bricks 8 hours a day, working in Capalaba's chicken farms, fencing and tree lopping until finally I got the call, there was a position in an Aboriginal art course. I was taught by a Ghungalu and Garingbal woman Aunty Patsy Kemp-Leisha for three months, she sent me away with my brushes and canvases and equipment and told me “go and practice” and I’ve been practicing ever since.
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What my art has taught me.
In these last 30 years my art has taught me spirituality, but not in the typical sense like aurous or ghosts/spirits but rather I have been learning and trying to practice: patience, acceptance, organisation, disappointment, rejection and decision making. I am also learning to accept positive affirmations about myself and my art which is giving me self-confidence.
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Myself and my art now.
I've moved from place to place most of my adult life with my daughter Leonie. But over the past 3 years I’ve been heavily involved with the art community here including the Whoopdee Doo Crew who perform music across the road from The Lizard Statue in West End Boundary Street every Wednesday morning. At the moment I’m painting panels to brighten up the Murri Station. 98.9FM is a country music station that live broadcasts a Murri segment often during the week. I have become a West End Community House (WECH) Art Gang family member and artist. They have taught me life skills I need to live in Brisbane for example, one of my Art Gang brothers George, sold a painting and he saved up the money to go on a holiday to Uluru, and I thought to myself, "maybe I can spend my hard working money on something good for myself these days (instead of on bills)". I’ve met incredible people from many walks of life, we’ve been able to create and display our art together in exhibitions across Brisbane and they’ve been able to give me the love of a big family that I haven’t felt for a long time, especially being a single parent for over 20 years now.
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My next step.
The next step is to establish an online presence, my daughter set up an Instagram account which you can follow on the Gallery tab and hopefully this website will give you all the insight you need into who I am and the artwork that I would like to create.
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