Ahakeye (Bush Plum) Dreamingby Colin Bird

I (Sabine Haider, Director Central Art) have known Colin for several years. I had the pleasure of meeting him, through his wife Colleen Wallace Nungari and his mother, Ada Bird Petyarre. Ada was my mentor in establishing Central Art, first off as a premier Aboriginal Art online gallery, when there were very few online galleries in existence. Sadly, Ada Bird Petyarre never got to see our exquisite gallery, but I am sure that she would have enjoyed the space which is surrounded by mostly Utopian artworks including Colin Bird.Over the years I have supported Colleen Wallace and encouraged her to continue to paint and continue to evolve her own style and expand her talents.

Colin is from the Utopia region in Central Australia, a few hours from Alice Springs. His country is called Ilkawerne. Colin and his young family regularly move between Alice Springs and Utopia which is quite common for Aboriginal people, who regularly visit Alice Springs for shopping, socialising and cultural business. Although Colin is not a regular painter his artworks are strong and masculine, traditional of Aboriginal men from the area. He uses a traditional style with symbols to depict his Dreamings which include stories about the Bush Plum and Mulga Berry which grow in the area. Colin is from the Jungala/Ngale skin group and he speaks Anmatyerre which is one of two language groups from the Utopia area.

Colin comes for a large family group who have and continue to be influential in the Central Desert Art Movement; these include his mother Ada Bird Petyarre and her sisters; Gloria Petyarre and Kathleen Petyarre.

Colin is a cheerful family man and I have enjoyed watching his family grow and get older. His works are reasonably priced and traditional with the use of Aboriginal iconography and symbolism. His works stick to more traditional colours which are found naturally in the area through the use of ochre rocks. The rocks are collected and ground down to a powder; add some water and you have a thick paste which is used for painting the body, face and rocks. Ochre comes in a variety of different colours such as white, fawn, brown and orange hues.

A stockman and cowboy at heart, he is most at peace living on the traditional lands of Utopia as opposed to Alice Springs. He has an intimate knowledge of the land and the sacred Dreamings associated with it. It is very important to have these traditional paintings for learning and teaching about the sacred and important stories, laws and morals of Aboriginal culture.

Central Art commissioned Colin to produce two Bush Plum pieces and his final products encompassed everything masculine and male in Aboriginal culture. His works were fine detailed pieces and his dotting style extremely accurate. His works are certainly worth considering if opting for a more traditional piece of Aboriginal art.

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