Bella & Reg
Australian Indigenous Fabric Pendants
WATER DREAMING RED and YUENDUMU BUSH TOMATO BLACK AND RUST by Audrey Napanangka
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Audrey is a Warlpiri woman born in the community of Yuendumu, approximately 3 hours North West of Alice Springs in Central Australia. Audrey has lived her whole life in Yuendumu, attending primary school, and later raising her own family in Yuendumu. She now lives in Alice Springs. She commenced painting in 1986 and has been surrounded by painters since she was a small child. Both her parents were artists also.
Story: Audrey’s designs include bush tucker (food) Dreaming, which feature witchetty grubs, coconut, tomato, grape, bush sultana and sweet potato. Many bush foods are seasonal and the traditional knowledge of which foods to search for during which seasons is passed down through the generations. Her fabric designs on printed fabric include Bush Sultana, Bush Tomato and Wild Coconut.
YALKE Blue, Green and Red by June Smith
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June Smith is a well-known artist in Santa Teresa, Alice Springs. She was born in 1960 in Alice Spring and she studied in Alice Springs. She is the first woman in Santa Teresa to paint on silk
Story: Spectacular views of various creatures such as birds and frogs, and different vegetation can be viewed in the Yalke or wetlands of Australia, both in dry or wet seasons. In the dry season, vast water mass goes back to permanent wetlands, waterholes etc. and become home for waterfowls and many other migratory birds of Australia. In the wet, birds like magpies and geese congregate on the wetland or Yalke. June, with a vibrant colour sense, has brilliantly depicted this design with Aboriginal symbols and signs out of her Dreamtime story.
BUSH TUCKER in Purple, White and Red by June Smith
Story: Bush food (referred to as bush tucker in Australia) traditionally refers to any food which is native to Australia and is used as sustenance by the original inhabitants. For thousands of years Aboriginal people survived living off the land, eating well when food was plentiful and conserving it in times of drought. This food is called bush tucker or bush food, and it is Australia's native food.
FRESH LIFE AFTER RAIN in Purple, Orange and Black by Christine Doolan
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Christine belongs to the famous Doolan family. Her art is bold and neat. Christine captured the Fresh Life after Rain with great imagination and skill full artwork.
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Story: Central Australia is a semi desert area. Rainfall in this area is very rare. Vegetations are not plenty. However, after several months of dry weather, sometimes Alice Springs get good rainfall. Suddenly area starts blooming with Australian wildflower almost everywhere. The whole territory gets a new life. Visitors are greeted with amazing array of colours of yellow, purple, red green and much more. Christine belongs to the famous Doolan family. Her art is bold and neat. Christine captured the Fresh Life after Rain with great imagination and skill full artwork.
DANCING SPIRIT in Red, Yellow, Blue and Purple by Colleen Wallace
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Colleen Wallace is a self-taught artist who comes from a strong family tradition of Eastern Arrernte painters, including Therese Wallace (Colleen’s mother) and Gabriella Wallace (Colleen’s aunt). Colleen was raised by her stepmother, Kathleen Wallace, at Santa Teresa and Alice Springs. Colleen’s father’s country is near Gem Tree, north east of Alice Springs.
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Story: Dancing Spirit represents the sacred dance of ancient Aboriginal ancestors since the time of creation. When dancing, these Aboriginal spirits pay their respects to Mother Earth,expressing their love and admiration for the sacred land. M&S Textiles Australia is the largest manufacturer of Australian Aboriginal designs printed on good quality 100% cotton fabric. Aboriginal artworks are popular throughout the world and the only living ancient artworks. Its tradition goes back 50,000 years ago revealed by carbon dating of rock painting, cave painting etc. It is amazing that many of the artists do not have any formal education or training.
DREAMTIME FLOWERS in Blue and Black by Latisha Doolan
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Story: According to Aboriginal mythology, dreamtime is the creation time when ancestors sprung up from beneath the earth. They travelled across the land and created almost everything in the world. When they got tired they went back into the earth. Latisha meticulously depicted some Dreamtime flowers in her art work. The smaller dots and circles represent seeds, flowers, waterholes etc. Two concentric circles with a dot in the centre represent ancestral sites.
ROOTS & SEEDS in Brown by Rosemary Pitjara
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Rosemary Pitjara (Petyarre) was born c1965, in Utopia, north east of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Rosemary is the niece of internationally acclaimed artist Emily Knangwarreye. She is a fantastic artist in her own right and is the new generation of fine artists from the Utopia region. Her work is very finely detailed and is another fine example of Utopia art.
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Story: The Bush Coconut or bloodwood apple, is an Australian native food or 'bush tucker' eaten by the Aboriginal people of Central Australia. The Bush Coconut is in fact a combination of plant and animal in that it actually a gall induced on the tree by a type of scale insect. The gall is the size of an apple with a rough exterior and a small grub can be found inside after breaking the fruit open. Both the grub and the white flesh of the fruit are eaten. The designs she paints are bush medicine, yam dreaming and body painting. As a bush woman, she is familiar with her land and its abundance of bush tucker species, medicine plants and native fauna. These are important women's stories, from which she paints.
Wild Bush Flowers in Purple and Black by Layla Campbell
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Layla comes from Yuendumu, Northern Territory, and belongs to the Warlpiri language group. She is an accomplished indigenous artist whose paintings have been acquired by many private collectors.
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Story: Her paintings are about traditional Aboriginal stories and symbols. Her Dreaming is ‘Wild Bush Flowers’ which she inherited from the ancestors however she has skillfully developed her individual style of painting into the canvas.
This artwork depicts bush seeds, wild flowers and pods gathered by the Aboriginal women in Ventral Australia. Bush seeds and pods are the staple bush tucker and they are also collected for countless other purposes, such as traditional bush medicine.
YELLOW BUSH PLUM in Red and Blue by Julieanne T. Nungarrayari
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Julieanne Turner Nungurrayi was born on 9th July 1974 at Yuelamu also known as Mount Allen, just outside of Yuendumu Community approximately 3 hours from Alice Springs in Central Australia. Julieanne is a Warlpiri woman and the daughter of well known Warlpiri artist Maureen Hudson Nampitjinpa.
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Story: Julieanne’s paintings depict bush medicine, women’s ceremonies, Budgerigar which is a native bird species found around Australia as well as the Bush Onion. She uses traditional Aboriginal iconography throughout her artworks, depicting sacred sites, women hunting and gathering, animal tracks and various other important symbols.
STELLA in Burgandy and Blackby Cathy Turner
"I grew up at Santa Teresa and went to school there. We shifted back to Alice Springs and I went to college until Year 10. Then I went up to Darwin with my family and lived at Maningrida with my sisters. In 1989 I came back to Alice Springs and lived in town and on our outstation. I used to see my aunties doing paintings and I used to help them a little bit. I started doing my own paintings in 1998."
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Story: Stella is a monument of sculptural stone ware introduced by Maya civilization of ancient Meso America. They consist of tall sculptured stone shaft and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars. Cathy Turner is a skilled and experienced Aboriginal artist. Her imaginative mind led her to depict Stella in her artwork wonderfully. It is colourful, vibrant with full of minute details.
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MEETING PLACES in Blue and Black by Josie Cavanagh
THE DESIGN: Meeting places are very important in Aboriginal culture and is where Elders and others meet together to discuss the wellbeing of their community. These gatherings address one or more interactive isights into the traditional skills, ancient stories and day to day life of the Aboriginal people. At thee meetings the heads of the community will add their cultural experiences by sharing stories told by their ancestors that have been passed down from generation to generation. Many of these stories are represented through Aboriginal drawings. These gatherings provide an opportunity for the tribe to come together to celebrate and consolidate their traditional cultural practices and identity.
Various circles in Josie's artwork represent the waterholes and the people sitting around in a circle discussing their community matters.
LANDSCAPE in Red by Stephen Pitjara
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Land is very close to the hearts of Australian Aboriginal people. They call this creation time Dreamting. Conservation of the land and passing on knowledge to future generations is very important to Aboriginal people, Stephen Pitjara is from the community of Utopia. The dotted lines in Steve’s artwork show the pathways created by the forefathers in Dreamtime. The small dots in the body of the artwork show kuldoo (edible seeds) from various fruits to make damper seeds (Special bread).
BODY PAINTING in Gold by June Bird
June Bird is a well known artist born in Utopia, Northern Territory, in 1958. June learned painting from her parents who were renowned artists. Her art works are sold from Northern Territory art galleries and may also be found in private art collections Worldwide. June speaks Anmatyerre, a traditional Aboriginal language. Her 'dreaming' is Bush Plum which was passed on to her by her parents.
THE DESIGN: Aboriginal body painting is an ancient traditional art that has been carried out for thousands of years. Body painting continues as a strong and vital part of contemporary Aboriginal culture where it varies from tribe to tribe. Awelye or body painting carries a deep spiritual significance and must conform to the respected historical patterns. People are not free to change the traditional designs.
BUSH COCONUT DREAMING in Red by A. NAPANANGKA
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AUDREY NAPANANGKA belongs to the Yuendumu group of artists in the Northern Territory.
THE DESIGN: The Bush Coconut or bloodwood apple, is an Australian native food or 'bush tucker' eaten by the Aboriginal people of Central Australia. The Bush Coconut is in fact a combination of plant and animal in that it actually a gall induced on the tree by a type of scale insect. The gall is the size of an apple with a rough exterior and a small grub can be found inside after breaking the fruit open. Both the grub and the white flesh of the fruit are eaten.
Traditionally the Aboriginal people are hunters and gatherers. They have a good understanding about plants, animals and natural resources and have always maintained an unhindered relationship with the land. They never spoiled the land by over harvesting bush tucker for hoarding and only collected what they needed.
DANCING FLOWERS in Black and Pink by June Smith
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The decorative flowers are gorgeously arranged one after another, as if they are bonded together. This unique decoration was only possible with the skillful and experienced hands of June Smith. Collection of various colors in such a beautiful way as if the flowers are with one’s heart. It is simply stunning. June Smith is a well-known artist in Santa Teresa, Alice Springs. She was born in 1960 in Alice Spring and she studied in Alice Springs. She is the first woman in Santa Teresa to paint on silk.
