Wayne Ampetyane Davis was taught at a young age by his elders in understanding the meaning of traditional dot artwork (predominately in Central Australia NT), this style originated by his past ancestors’ generations before which was then handed down through future generations.

Originally before canvas and modern paints came on the scene his people would use natural products such as ochre which comes in various traditional colours and were collected at important and at times sacred quarries (sites).

The ochre was crushed into powder form and mixed with fluids (usually water and sometimes animal body fat) to allow the ochre to flow freely, this medium produced spectacular styles and colours when applied on the ground surface, generally used in ceremonies and today Wayne like many other desert artists incorporate ochre with modern acrylic paint, an approach that works well together and provide its own unique style.

The ochre was also used in ceremonies as body paint both in the past and today, as Aboriginal people develop their artistic skills they learn how to adopt with new ways, in this process artists like Wayne can sustain his cultural identity, cultural obligation and pass on his wealth of knowledge.

In terms of the canvas in the early days as we know there was no canvas to be found in the desert and was only introduced as traditional lands became occupied by early explorers, during this period the new people’s that came mixed in and started to demonstrate the use of both acrylic paints and canvas to traditional artists living out on country.