From the fallen gum leaves, to the scars from the eucalyptus leaf beetle. I have depicted my stories using flora to coincide with this years NAIDOC theme, “Keep the Fire Burning: Blak, Loud & Proud”. What the theme means to me and how to portray it through art, from a birds eye view, is testimony through which my Mother has inspired and of course, embracing my Aunty’s in our studio. Symbolically, the gum leaves are representing Aboriginal people in most of my paintings, connected, fuelling the fire, to the fallen. While also portraying factual events, like the smoking ceremony in a coolamon. The tall yellow billy buttons representing the tribes and clans. The gum nuts represent the future generations all encompassing the fire.
What a joy it is to sit around a campfire.
Soaked with the richest memories of my loved ones, while creating new ones!
The fire burning within.
The chaos it can stir.
The regeneration.
The satisfaction of wonderment and the warmth provided.