Grace Brown / White Waratahs (GB12)

Grace Brown was born in Victoria and is a very proud Wurundjeri woman. Woiwurrung is her language group and is shared by the other tribal territory groups and clans within the Woiwurrung territory.

Grace has been on a journey to find her heritage on her grandmother’s side and with many years and much research, she now knows where on country she belongs.

She lived in North East Victoria near Healesville for most of her life but now resides on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

With many years of experience with different mediums and subjects, she now has dedicated her life to aboriginal art and her culture to find herself and learn everything about her culture and dreamtime stories from her community and her Elders.

Grace studied an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Arts Course in 2020 – 2021 and hopes to teach her craft, culture and indigenous dreamtime stories to the next generation.

In 2021 The Gold Coast University Hospital commissioned a large painting by Grace for the boardroom at the hospital. (Permission given by  Yugambeh Elders)

Many collectors around the world now hold Grace Brown paintings in their collections. Her latest painting sold to a private collector in New York USA titled “The Heart of Australia’.

Prizes
Finalist in Artlovers Art Prize 2022
Finalist in Bluethumb Art Prize 2021
Shortlist Artlovers Australia 2021 Awards
Shortlist Artlovers Australia 2020 Awards

Exhibitions
2021 Artlovers Australia
Naidoc 2021 – Heal Country, Artlovers Australia
Naidoc 2021 – Heal Country, Gold Coast University Hospital
2020 Artlovers Australia

Waratah is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘Seen from afar’ or ‘Beautiful’. The name comes from the Eora people, the original inhabitants of the Sydney area.

Aboriginals used the seed of Waratah as a source of food and the nectar-rich flowers for the preparation of sweet beverages and also gave it to the sick and very ill. Branches of waratah were used for the preparation of baskets in the past.

Long ago in the Dreamtime there were many beautiful plants and flowers just as there are today. Some of them are just as they were in the Dreamtime, but some have changed. The Waratah flower is one of them. It is an unusual flower because it grows at the top of a sturdy stem that reaches out of a small bush. Usually the flower is a deep red but occasionally a white one may be found. However, in the Dreamtime all the waratah’s were originally white. Sometimes, although it is very rare, it is still possible to find a white waratah just as they were back in the Dreamtime.