Collection: Irene Bowyer

Irene Bowyer is a Yuku-Baja-Muliku Traditional Owner and Elder.

Irene started painting when she was 17 years old. Irene stopped painting for about 25 years due to family and life commitments, and has recently rekindled her passion to paint. Her mediums of choice are acrylics on canvas, and her inspiration for her art is drawn from the local region and traditional stories. 

"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 recently rekindled my passion for painting. My medium of choice is 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 nameplate can be seen in the James Cook Museum here in Cooktown."

Irene's work can also be found at the Kuku Bulkaway Art Gallery in Cooktown.