Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Didgeridoo. Aboriginal man make these and blow these. This is considered Men's business and so aboriginal women do not blow these.
Sunset at Mindil Beach. Darwin (Northern Territory) Australia
View from the pedestrian bridge of my hotel - Vibe Darwin Waterfront Hotel
Famous Aboriginal Artist - Sonda Nampinjinpa
Me and Sonda Nampinjinpa. She is showing me Australia Art books featuring her and her art.
Aboriginal artist paint under the guidance of their elders.
Famous Artist Sonda Nampinjinpa and her son Jonathan. She is writing the story on the back of the painting he just finished.
Dot painting...typical of the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory of Australia. This was done by Sonda's son, Jonathan. You must see this close up to really appreciate the detail. CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR CLOSE UP
Another of Jonathan's paintings. His work resembles his mother's work...but then she is his teacher. Extreme detail. Iguana, honey ants, berries, camp of women and men and night stars.
Sonda's niece...painted this one. It took her a year. It is a very large painting but I took this close up so you can see some of the detail. She has a way of doing the reptile with multi-colored dots like no one else. Her signature. She sold it while I was there. Original price $10,000 AUD, but she accepted $3,000 from a Dutchmen.
Aboriginal Artists painting with their original paint, ochre, and also acrylic paints of more recent years.
Ochre - The natural paint from the rocks. Reason most aboriginal paintings contain these colors.
Aboriginal Children
Aboriginal Children...I noticed their hair streaks blonde from the sun.
Jo Salvia. My new camera was delayed in shipping, prolonging my stay in Darwin so I moved out of the waterfront hotel and into a backpacker dorm called Chilli's and Jo was my roomie. We found we had lots in common and quickly became friends. She is a chef and the dish above are Tapas she made for me.
My friend Jo Salvia took this picture of Sonda after I left.
At Mindil Beach market. I bought my son a kangaroo leather bangle.
Me and my friend Jo went on a nature walk
Waterfall at the Darwin Botanic Rainforest
Bike Taxi's
A Darwin home
The Museum - Really not allowed to take photos but Jo snuck this one in.
Aboriginal people are very attached to the land. Their God is the mother earth. They only kill what they will eat and are careful to keep balance and harmony. Their paintings are symbolic and always tell a story usually of some point in the past. The symbols vary but a "U" shape represents people, if with a stick it is probably a woman as they use digging sticks when looking for honey ants. If the "U" shape is with a shield it is probably a man. Circles are usually camps or water holes and the people gather around these. Dotted lines are usually paths to somewhere or towards something. I saw a painting with a U and a small u on top of it. There were two circles and paths. The story went like this: There was a boy and he was walking with his little brother piggyback. They were on their way to see their grandfather (one of the circles) and eventually passed by a gathering of women cooking on a campfire (the other circle with U's around it) who fed them and gave them food to complete their journey. The picture had bush foods, like iguanas, honey ants and berries. I began to realize the essence of Aboriginal dot art. I sensed the soul of the people and then realized that no matter how simplistic their paintings may appear, they can never really be copied as the soul of the people and their love for the land and each other is what they paint about. No one understands this the way they do. In the whole of Australia, their art is highly sought after. Unfortunately, they are usually paid little by the merchants who sell their art. It is definitely not a common occurrence that Aboriginal people would own their own art galleries. There is currently a new bill to force the merchants to pay royalties to the Aboriginal Artists. One of the artist, Janet Long is a law student close to graduating, who told me it was her plight to make sure these laws are in enacted. I bought one of her paintings and I am extremely proud to own it. (Row 2, #2 and 3 are hers and available for sale) and (Row 4, #3 and 4) is the one I bought.
My private collection consists of 5 certified authentic paintings, a didgeridoo and 2 hand painted boomerangs
