This is a story of discovery. I discovered a dress I love and the woman who created the artwork for the dress. I am not known for wearing dresses, but when I saw my wattle dress at an exhibition of outback artists in Brisbane, I had to have it. Friends commented on how great the dress looked on me, and one woman said her auntie Jean Barr-Crombie from Birdsville was the artist.

On a 6000km trip in outback Qld, I visited the Red Ridge Gallery in Blackall. Red Ridge the Label shines a spotlight on central western Qld Aboriginal artists expressing their work beautifully in fashion.

Jean Barr-Crombie and her sister Joyce Crombie have a deep connection with Red Ridge the Label. Their artwork was the basis of the first two fashion collections Red Ridge the Label produced. The collections were recognised internationally with invitations to display dresses on the catwalks of the US and Europe.

In Blackall, I bought a painting of the channel country in flood by Anpanuwa 'Joyce' Crombie. So now, with a dress and a picture created by the sisters, I wanted to know more. 

In Birdsville, I was lucky to meet Jean and talk about art, culture and language.