Josie is a vibrant, dynamic, innovative Australian artist, responsible for some of the finest dot paintings to come from Utopia, as well as colourful paintings and carvings and illustrations of the things she loves.
In 2021, Betty Mbitjana took up full time residence at an aged care / respite clinic in Alice Springs due to health issues and she is no longer painting.
However, like her artwork followed in the footsteps of her mother Minnie Pwerle, now her younger sister Dora Mpetyane paints in hers.
Painting makes this Arrernte lady from Harts Range happy and she 'hopes people will like her artwork'.
Josepha's Bush Berries paintings are meticulously crafted, dot by dot, layer by layer, until the canvas is filled and she is satisfied every dot has its place and purpose in the finished artwork.
Jeannie is an Australian artist known for her beautiful depictions of the Desert Yam. She is also a 56 year old, a natural born leader, community provider, daughter of a ngangker (a bush doctor or healer), niece of an elder, a sister, a foster parent and a fur baby mumma.
She's also now a ngangker herself, and always has a supply of bush medicine made and ready for those who come to her for help.⠀⠀
Watching Polly paint, you see the ultra focus and the joy. While painting, she is under a trance like state - even to the point of missing the paint pot on her next daub, rarely looking away from the painting as she scoops up more paint with the brush and paints the next layer.
Paint on the floor around her, on her hands, is inevitable. But she looks up frequently to pause and gesture across the canvas: 'good one' she will say.
Dinny Kunoth is an Australian artist known for his naïve depictions of contemporary life in remote Australia. He is a 66 year old father of nine, grandfather, a proud family man, a gentleman, a sculptor, a son of a sculptor, a painter and an ex stockman. To name a tiny few.