Jeffrey Lewis, Birds, 75x50cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Jeffrey Lewis
• Community - Ernabella
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Ernabella Arts
• Catalogue number - 251-26
• Materials - Professional artist acrylic on canvas
• Size(cm) - H50 W75 D2
• Postage variants - Artwork posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - As displayed

Jeffrey paints his favourite birds that live in the country around Ernabella. These include the kuparu (magpie), partilpa (Port Lincoln ringed neck parrot), kayarkiyarpa (galah), tjintir-tjintirpa (willy wag-tail), piil-piilpa (yellow throated minor) and kuurkuurpa (owls).

Jeffrey comes from a strong artistic family. His mother Atipalku Intjalki began working at the art centre over fifty years ago, back when Ernabella artists were producing camel wool rugs, and she is still painting in the art centre today. His sisters Michelle, Langaliki and Lynette Lewis are all highly regarded Ernabella artists. Jeffrey started painting at Ernabella Arts in 2019. He has a physical disability and he doesn’t speak. He began by painting small greeting cards and eventually moved to ceramics and canvases. Jeffrey lives near the footy oval where the Pukatja Magpies, the local footy team, train. He is ninti (knowledgeable) for magpies and loves painting them. He has a book of all the different birds from the Ernabella region and this is what he specialises in depicting.