Artist: Dick Roughsey (Goobalatheldin) | Title: Table Food Story | Year: 1968 | Medium: natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark | Dimensions: 38 x 56 cm

Artist Profile
Dick Roughsey was born on Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, a member of the Lardil people. His tribal name, Goobalathaldin means ‘rough seas’, hence the English derivative. During his early years with his family and friends, he explored the shorelines, listening to the Dreaming stories and learning how to hunt and gather the once plentiful bush foods. He attended the mission school, learning how to read and write and then found employment, first on cattle-stations and later as a deckhand on the area supply boat, ‘Cora’. While making deliveries to the different missions and Aboriginal communities, Roughsey would seek out the bark painters, sitting with them to watch them paint and listen to their stories. His first attempts at painting followed the style of Albert Namatjira who at the time was gaining public recognition. A pivotal meeting with the airline pilot and artist Percy Tresize galvanized Roughsey’s wish to become an artist. ‘Paint what you know yourself’ Tresize told him, encouraging Roughsey to embark on painting as a professional career and also to rely on his own sources of inspiration. Tresize brought supplies of suitable bark and ochres to Roughsey who began painting the stories of his own tradition. Soon after, his first exhibition in Cairns was highly successful, generating great enthusiasm among both artists and audiences. Later, Tresize also instructed Roughsey in the use of European art materials and techniques, which provided the basis for the illustration of the many children’s books that they would work on together. Their close friendship and art-writing collaboration lasted until Roughsey’s death in 1985. Continue Reading