New Numbulwar screen prints on the way

Our latest workshop saw Basil travel to Numbulwar on the east coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria for the first time. Organised by Fleur Parry and Tom E Lewis from Djilpin Arts in Beswick, the workshop was designed to introduce Numbulwar artists to the medium of printmaking. Over the two days, around 15 artists came in to try painting their designs in acrylic onto sheets of acetate. Basil will be able to take most of these acrylics and expose them, colour by colour, onto silkscreens for printing in his new studio in Canberra. Here Absalom and Katrina, two of the more experienced painters, apply the finishing touches to their first prints. They both used traditional hair brushes to make the rrark – or cross hatching – onto the last two or three layers, but all artists were careful not to paint traditional subject matter or use only traditional colours for their clan designs and these are considered only appropriate for ceremony. Numbulwar is over 5 hours’ drive east of Katherine, which in turn was a 3.5 hour drive from Darwin for Basil and the film crew who kindly gave him a lift to the community.