Judith Young Collaboration

Judith’s parents grew up on the Sandhills along the Murrumbidgee River in Narrandera NSW. Her mother was a watercolour artist and her father a boomerang and artefact maker. She honours and celebrates her parents in her process by combining the watercolour painting from her Mum (Judith Williams nee Johnson) and burning techniques from her Dad (Kevin Williams).

“I always remember going back to Narrandera and how Mum spoke about the beautiful wattle trees which bring yiing (joy) to the soul.” 

Judith wanted to show how important it is to spend time in the bush and connect with creation, just as her ancestors did. Her artwork is about the importance of healthy living, healthy thinking and the healthy choices we can make. “Our lands give health. When you connect with country you leave feeling refreshed and cleansed.”  

Her hope for this artwork, is that everyone will have an opportunity to bring Waluwin into their home. A beautiful reminder that to be in good health we must be connected to country.

This special range was designed by Judith to honour her family and pay tribute to the creative gifts passed down by her Mum and Dad. The symbolic markings and leaves represent the importance of connecting to country and bringing healing and good health into the home.

All of the markings and symbols featured in the artwork (except the diamond) were passed down to Judith and her siblings by her father.

Judith’s father made the boomerangs and artefacts, and taught Judith and her siblings how to use the ends of the boomerangs to create these unique markings. Judith burnt these markings on watercolour paper to honour this process.

The Judith Young Collaboration began as we were looking for ways to partner in an authentic way with First Nations artists. We wanted to make sure that we are creating true connections between the artist and our customers. We built a connection with Judith Young and felt a strong sense of alignment towards authentic storytelling.

Also, we were looking to expand on our existing Indigenous First Nations Art range whilst offering our customers a different handwriting and style of First Nations Art as we recognised there is so much more to the culture and art we are yet to explore.

As a design team, we worked closely with our community team to research and develop the range with Judith, with utmost cultural sensitivity.