New gallery with DIY art

Patricia Sutton Aljirra explains why she and her family
have opened a new art gallery on the main street

We've actually been running from home for twelve months - we've had our stuff on show at the Bluestone and Eldorado. When this building became available I thought we've got to have a go at it.
We do a lot of the work ourselves but we are buying other people's art as well. It's a small family business, we've all got art background, starting with Mum, that's who I learnt from. I sat down and watched her for a few years, then I thought, "Blow this, I'm going to have a go at it". So I was a couple of years behind her and I've been painting for12 years now, Mum's been going longer than me. Ronnie's got involved, he's making all our didgees and I've got the kids involved too - my two teenage children, Lee Tamara and Perry, they both paint and have a go at it.
We're going to run one-on-one workshops for people who want to stay a day or two in Tennant Creek and want something a little bit creative to do.
We're going to offer them a choice of either coming and making a didgeridoo for themselves, or a painting - that will mean more to them than just buying something from somebody else. When we get around to it, we're going to advertise exhibition space for anybody who wants to hold exhibitions here, whether it's a group or a solo exhibition.
We've got long hours here, we open from 9:00 in the morning till about 10:30 at night Monday to Friday. On Saturday and Sunday we go from 10:00 in the morning to 9:00 at night. They're long hours but we figured we were doing those hours at home anyway so we might as well be here on the main street doing it, staying open and trying to make a dollar.
Ron's got a job and he works during the week but he comes in at 4 pm. So that's six hours for people to come in and make a didgeridoo with him and then paint it. On Saturday and Sundays he'll be here from 10:00am to 9:30pm.
The cost of making your own didgeridoo depends on how much work is involved. If you just want a plain unpainted didgeridoo, it will be a lot cheaper because that's just Ronald's time. If you want it painted then that's me sitting down and taking the time for however long it takes a person to paint their didgeridoo and then it goes again on the sizes - you might only want a little one or you might want a real big one, skinny or fat, so it all depends.
Once we get properly established, we'll also be selling pottery stuff and paint, brushes, canvases and all the good quality stuff that artists and crafts people use. We want to be able to sell a variety of stuff.
I'm still going to be doing my mural painting so if anyone wants a mural doing, I'm available.