Artist Profile Terry Johnstone
[ Terry Johnstone ]
Terry was raised in Newcastle. He has been a member of the Forster Aboriginal community in excess of 20 years. Joining Tobwabba and developing his skills as an artist has also meant learning a lot more about Aboriginal culture than Terry previously knew, which he says has been very valuable.
Terry sometimes spends days in the studio but mainly works on his art at home. Terry is more comfortable working in bright colours as he feels they reflect life in our region better.
Terry does a lot of design work, even though he finds the designs much more painstaking and time-consuming than paintings.
In the past he has been interviewed on SBS and ABC television. Terry has spoken about the important role Tobwabba Art plays in community and economic development in the Forster Aboriginal community. While working at Tobwabba has certainly improved his income, Terry says that was not the reason he joined Tobwabba. He sees Tobwabba''s financial success as an added bonus on top of its success as a community development project.
Terry would like to see Tobwabba maintain a workplace wholly managed and maintained by people from the Aboriginal community - always striving to provide more employment and training opportunities.