COLOUR ME

[Maureen K Clifford]

Neville kindly allowed me to us his pencil sketch titled Mission Girl to illustrate this piece.


COLOUR ME


She was just the cutest baby with a head of tight knit curls
and long lashes, black and lush on dusky cheeks.
Her mouth just like a rosebud in the sweetest shade of pink
and brown eyes like chocolate pools at you did peek .

Her smile was like the moon and stars and sun all put together
and she loved the world into which she’d been born.
She was happy and contented, held safe in her Mother’s arms
and her eyes surveyed the Krantji spring at dawn.

She was a little girl, devoid of wealth and fancy trimmings
and her home was just a very humble place.
But love she had in plenty and nature provided toys
for her to play with and she knew her skin and race.

With love she grew, and came to know the culture of her people
and in return, all those who knew her loved her to.
There were no paintings on her walls and indeed none were needed
the MacDonnell ranges captivated with their hills of blue.

She had a love of colour and a sharp eye for detail
and she would paint the pictures of this magic land
in colours rich and vibrant, burning reds, and deepest indigo
the soft sage green of the wattles and the gold of desert sand.

She studied hard, learnt shape and form, used acrylics, oils, charcoal.
Water colours like Grandfather Elea once used to expend.
And never once did she consider colour as a problem.
Nature made everything different – and all colours merge and blend.

Now her paintings hang in galleries and homes across the nation.
They’re the object of many people’s desire.
And each canvas tells a story – of men hunting, women gathering,
tribal traditions and stories. They sell to the highest buyer.

And the little mission girl once devoid of wealth and trimmings
who saw beauty all around her now across the world does roam,
travelling in Jets displaying a loved symbol of her country
the Aranda peoples totem - the red Kangaroo of her home.



Maureen Clifford © 10/11


COLOUR ME
Elea 'Albert' Namatjira was a western Arrernte man and a famous Australian artist who despite winning world wide acclaim for his art and being awarded a Queen Elizabeth Coronation Medal in 1953 and being a member of the Royal Art Society of NSW found in 1949 as a result of racial discrimination that he was refused a grazing licence and in 1951 was refused permission to build a home on land he owned at Alice Springs.

He died in August 1959 at Alice Springs Hospital but had lived up until then despite his financial earnings from his paintings in a fringe camp at Morris Soak on the outskirts of Alice Springs.

His legacy lives on today as he has family members who are also artists.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Experimenting to get a likeness of an old photo to go with this poem - something that perhaps was found on the floor or perhaps behind a wall of an abandoned building, an old B and W print or sepia perhaps that has been chewed around the edges. Not sure if this is quite what I wanted but I think it will do. The eventual aim is to use a few of these in a video clip