June Peters / Waterholes – Gija Country (19690)

June was born on Texas Downs Station (Ngarrgaroon) in 1962. She lost both her mother and father at a very young age however the late Madigan Thomas (Senior ochre artist and Law Woman) and her husband Sandy Thomas, a Traditional Elder, brought her up and treated her like a daughter.

June lives at Mandangala Community (Glen Hill Station), has eight children and many grandchildren and visits her relatives at Warmun frequently.

She was taught painting from an early age by the best of our famous first generation ochre artists, including Jack Britten, Madigan Thomas and Lena Nyadbi. These Elders devoted their lives to teaching youngsters culture, Traditional Dreamtime stories and ochre painting technique.

June is the niece of our most famous ochre artist, Rover Thomas. June’s mother was one of five sisters (Rita being Rover’s wife) and every one of these women, all from Texas Downs Station, have produced highly talented artists. June’s eldest daughter Deanne is following in her mother’s footsteps and is an accomplished artist.

June has an extended family, and through her mother, father, aunties and uncles, is able to paint the huge expanse of Kitja land, including Texas Downs, Purnululu and Doon Doon. This gives the artist a wonderful content for her works, and June is fastidious about the Kitja Dreaming Stories represented in her paintings. She travels extensively in her country, and paints with precision and authenticity.

June paints both in the typical Warmun style (thick bulked ochre), as well as fine, detailed works in minimal palette and on occasion, wonderful works using the acrylic medium. June’s work has been quickly noticed and purchased by astute collectors and included in exhibitions at Australian galleries such as Japingka Gallery in Perth and Harrison Galleries and Gallery Tjukurrpa in Sydney plus international galleries in France, The Netherlands and USA.

June has a promising future and her paintings now hang with the best of her famous relatives.

I have painted waterholes in my country – Gija country in the East Kimberley, WA.

You can see the tributary of the Ord River flowing through the middle. The flatlands have plenty of waterholes and after the wet, they fill right up.

The waterholes are all different colours, just depends on what’s underneath them. Some are very salty because all this country used to be under seawater long time ago – they’re the one dotted in white. The black, they’ve still got a bit of water in them but no good to drink. The orange and yellow coloured ones are where the good water is, bit of sand but the water is ok.

This is a really good place for animals and bush tucker most of the year, and the old people used to walk all around and lived off this land.