Nellie Gordon

Born C.1934 on the banks of the Stuart Creek on the northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert, the artists spent her childhood in Jaru Country South East of Halls Creek. Much of her adult life was spent working as a station cook and housekeeper on pastoral stations in the East Kimberley. In the mid 70’s the introduction of the Equal Rights Bill for the Aboriginal workforce meant that many Aboriginal employees were forced off stations in the town settlements such as Halls Creek. Nellie lived here for some time before moving to the Kununurra areas with her husband George wallaby, where both began to paint full time. In this work the artist has painted Ngarajiri, the budgerigar, and the white trunked tree in which it likes to nest. The leaves and branches can be seen meandering around the image, at the bottom is the bird in its nest in the hollow of a branch, carrying six eggs. Nellie used to eat the birds when she was a child: “Climb up a tree, catch’im in a nest. Choke’im, put’im la fire, put’im la coolamon, finish”.