Didgeridoo | D-072

DOB: c. 1955

Birthplace: Barrow Creek NT

Skin name: Apengarte

Region: Barrow Creek NT



Born in Alice Springs in 1955, Reggie first took up painting as a young man attending the Alice Springs Convent School. Although he won numerous school art awards, Reggie learnt his art outside of school by watching older artists painting in the Todd River.

First adopting a “Namatjira” style of landscape painting, Reggie began painting scenes around his hometown and sold his first painting at the mission block store.

Over the years Reggie worked on stations as a station hand and fencer, painting on the side when he had a chance. Since 1985 he has been a professional artist experimenting with adopting traditional dot painting style to tell his stories about life in his mother’s country in Central Australia around Barrow Creek and Neutral Junction Station.

Using aboriginal symbols and drawing on his own experience of the bush, Reggie’s paintings tell stories of hunting, gathering bush tucker and traditional Aboriginal lifestyles.

Reggie uses a range of colours, especially the ochres of red and yellow oxides, on a black canvas. He is currently experimenting with paints which dry in a matt finish order to give the painting a more “original” feeling. His distinctive speckled colour background effect is achieved using leaves. Some of the larger more intricate paintings can take up to three months to complete.

Over the past few years Reggie’s work has gained increasing recognition and exposure. Since moving to Darwin, he has participated in national Aboriginal Art Awards several times. His work is bought by tourists and locals alike from art galleries and roadhouses along the ‘Track” between Alice Springs and Darwin.

Reggie currently lives in Darwin and dreams of opening his own gallery and then one day retire back to the bush.