Fred Tjakamarra was born near Lappi Lappi in Western Australia, near the border with the Northern Territory. His first experience of white men was when he saw them droving cattle using camels, travelling through to Alice Springs. When he was young, he and his companions were taken by force to an Aboriginal settlement in Alice Springs. He was able to escape with two companions when the truck on which they were travelling stopped for water.

Fred spent some time at the old Balgo Mission as a young man before working as a stockman and station cook at the cattle stations of the east Kimberley. An accident left Fred with a weak hip and he now walks with the aid of a stick. He took up painting in 1990 and has produced a large number of pai...