aboriginal art
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:23 amIn the early 1970's when Geoffery Bardon noticed the people at Papunya drawing images and stories in the sand, to the now famous style of the desert artists who use acrylic medium with incredible flair, the stories they tell of the harsh land in which they survived complement their contemporary currently famous works.
From the Jaru people of Halls Creek south to Balgo and, further down towards Alice Springs, the Walpiri people of Yuendumu - all have stories to tell through their differing art styles – much sought after and extremely popular due to the diversity of their style.
The ochre painters of the Kimberley, Western Australia, have carried on a tradition of which they are fiercely proud. The Dreaming Stories, the affiliation with their land – are depicted in the medium of the ochre and natural pigments which abound in their area. The gathering and preparation of the ochre is as time consuming as the painting itself – yet it is THEIR medium – from the early 1980's when Rover Thomas and Jack Britten were given their first canvas, which they stretched themselves onto crude "board", mixed their ochre with kangaroo blood and tree resin, "chewed" grass to colour the ochre, and bulked it up with charcoal – a technique still used today – to the current exhibition stretchers which the next generations of ochre painters are now offered – the stories are the same – handed down from their now deceased mentors – the styles differ as always – the teaching of ochre technique, we are confident, will be carried on to infinity.
From the Jaru people of Halls Creek south to Balgo and, further down towards Alice Springs, the Walpiri people of Yuendumu - all have stories to tell through their differing art styles – much sought after and extremely popular due to the diversity of their style.
The ochre painters of the Kimberley, Western Australia, have carried on a tradition of which they are fiercely proud. The Dreaming Stories, the affiliation with their land – are depicted in the medium of the ochre and natural pigments which abound in their area. The gathering and preparation of the ochre is as time consuming as the painting itself – yet it is THEIR medium – from the early 1980's when Rover Thomas and Jack Britten were given their first canvas, which they stretched themselves onto crude "board", mixed their ochre with kangaroo blood and tree resin, "chewed" grass to colour the ochre, and bulked it up with charcoal – a technique still used today – to the current exhibition stretchers which the next generations of ochre painters are now offered – the stories are the same – handed down from their now deceased mentors – the styles differ as always – the teaching of ochre technique, we are confident, will be carried on to infinity.