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Sturt Pea, Mulla Mulla

This is the Fortescue Mulla Mulla or ‘Gumbarli’ in Yindjibarndi language. The flower is a purplish colour. It is not a bush medicine, just a flower that grows in the country, in lines along the roads and everywhere. In this painting, the seeds of the Mulla Mulla are all blowing out. Once the leaves and petals have fallen off the seeds are blown all through the land to bring flowers again next year.

The Sturt Pea has a vibrant red flower with a black centre piece. It has a succulent sweet juice that can be eaten.

Categories: Yinjaa-Barni Art

Name: Melissa Sandy

Language: Yindjibarndi

Biography:

Melissa Sandy was born in Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in 1977 and has lived in Roebourne ever since."I started painting late in 2006. At first it was something to do to pass the time because I thought I had no artistic talent at all. A couple of paintings later I realised I did have my own style of painting. Painting helps me in so many ways. It helps me to relax, makes me feel more confident about myself and I have found that my art is a great way to express myself. I am so grateful to be able to paint. When any of my paintings are sold it makes me very happy to be able to make someone else happy. Please enjoy my work. Knowing that someone else is benefiting from my art makes it all worth while." Melissa Sandy has had no formal training but shows a natural flair for design and dot painting. She is meticulous about her choice of colours, spending a lot of time mixing her paints to achieve the right colours to complement each other. Her work has proven to be very popular. It is hard for her to get a body of work together as they are often sold before her work is finished. The stories that go with her paintings express the land and the plants from her country and the stories told by her elders. Melissa's work is highly individual and easily recognisable and she is constantly working on new methods of expression.

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