SHE may have been born on Mt Doreen station, but it was at Napperby Station that Beatrice started to paint about 25 years later. Laramba, north-west of Alice Springs, is the small town of less than 200 people within Napperby Station where she lives.
Beatrice has to be one of the foremost custodians of the Bush Medicine Leaves story. While it is an honour bestowed on many other women, given the importance of the sacred medicinal qualities of this plant, her interpretations are rarely beaten.
If you are Alyawarre or Anmatyerre it is the Antywerleny Shrub. To everyone else it is the Slender Wattle or Thin-leaved Wattle, a wispy small tree that only grows in the arid sandy plains and red sandhills throughout the Utopia region, to the north of Alice Springs.
For many many generations, Alyawarre and Anmatyerre women have gathered the leaves of this shrub and prepared traditional remedies, most commonly ointments and infusions, to treat cuts, open wounds, skin rashes, burns, joint aches, and insect bites.
Beatrice's paintings bear an eneregy all of her own and she has been fortunate enough to catch the eye of many collectors and curators over the years.