Irene Bowyer

Yuku-Baja-Muliku Traditional Owner and Elder

I started painting when I was about 17 years old.

My family and I were living in Laura at the time, and I was working for Percy Trezise at his Quinkan Hotel where I was introduced to painting. Percy and Dick Roughsey were doing a lot of exploration work on the amazing Rock Art in the area. Dick was an elder from the community on Mornington Island and was a very close friend of Percy. I worked voluntarily as a guide to some of the Rock Art Sites while living there, taking tourists on bushwalks to view these incredible paintings.

I later moved to Mareeba where I continued to paint with friends and we sold works at the Kuranda Markets, local markets and shops in and around Cairns, including at an exhibition at the Hilton Hotel in 1988.

I stopped painting for about 25 years due to family and life commitments and I have just recently rekindled the passion to paint. My mediums of choice are acrylics on canvas.

I sign my works with my Maiden name I. Doughboy. My Grandfather George Doughboy was the King of the Bloomfield River and his name plate can be seen in the James Cook Museum here in Cooktown.

Artwork