Jeffrey Finlay is an Indigenous artist living in North Queensland. He currently lives with three others in a group home with the assistance of carers. Jeffrey acquired a disability at the age of 18 following a car accident. Jeffrey started painting following his accident. He uses a mouth guard which assists him to paint using his mouth. Jeffrey is in the process of painting part of his life story to submit to 1000 Voices to accompany this interview transcript.

Facilitator: Ready? Okay so tell me about your painting then?
Jeffrey: I’ve just been painting.
Facilitator: What do you paint?
Jeffrey: I paint animals. Sometimes backgrounds. Sunsets.
Facilitator: Sunsets? Why do you like painting that sort of thing?
Jeffrey: It’s good, something to do.
Facilitator: Something to do. So you don’t do much else except paint?
Jeffrey: I paint. Sometimes I go out.
Facilitator: Yeah, where do you go when you go out?
Jeffrey: In to town.
Facilitator: Yeah. So when you paint, how do you paint, with your mouth I assume?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Can you tell me a little bit about how you do that?
Jeffrey: Well I’ve got a mouth guard.
Facilitator: A mouth guard?
Jeffrey: A mouth guard and the handle of my brush. And I put the paintbrush at the hand and I hold it with my teeth, with my mouth.
Facilitator: So you paint with your mouth. Can you tell me - when did that start?
Jeffrey: In Brisbane around 2004.
Facilitator: Two thousand and four, so it’s been five years of painting.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: You must have a lot of work.
Jeffrey: Yeah. But you get used to it.
Facilitator: You do?
Jeffrey: And then you get more paintings. Yeah.
Facilitator: It builds up. What made you start painting?
Jeffrey: Well I was [unclear] up in this place where I lived and my body’s all paralysed. And I just wanted a chance to do something. Painting.
Facilitator: Right. So you figured you were paralysed except for your mouth, why not?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Did anybody tell you that you should try to take it up?
Jeffrey: Someone said, why don’t you take it up? And I said, yeah.
Facilitator: Have you always been paralysed?
Jeffrey: No. I had an accident in ’92.
Facilitator: How old were you?
Jeffrey: About 18.
Facilitator: Right, what were you doing before you had your accident?
Jeffrey: I was a dancer.
Facilitator: A dancer? Truly?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Gosh.
Jeffrey: And I played the didgeridoo.
Facilitator: Right, so was it Aboriginal dancing or…?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Yeah. And you were travelling around?
Jeffrey: No, we just had this band of [unclear] it goes up [unclear] and all that.
Facilitator: Tourists to North Queensland?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And play your didgeridoo for them as well?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So you were being paid to dance and play for the tourists?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Did you enjoy it?
Jeffrey: Yeah. I miss it.
Facilitator: You do?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: What do you miss most?
Jeffrey: Dancing.
Facilitator: The dancing.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Do you still play your didgeridoo?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: No.
Jeffrey: Because I haven’t got muscle in my stomach to blow the didge.
Facilitator: So your accident must have been quite [horrible] then.
Jeffrey: Yeah, C4.
Facilitator: C4. Can you tell me about it or you don’t want to go there?
Jeffrey: No. Don’t want to.
Facilitator: Sorry?
Jeffrey: No, I was just being silly one night. And I got drunk and saw my girlfriend with another bloke, I ran into a telephone pole.
Facilitator: You saw your girlfriend with another bloke, got drunk and ran into a telephone pole?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And you ended up completely paraplegic?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Gosh. What was her reaction?
Jeffrey: She was frightened.
Facilitator: Yeah, gosh. So then you were in hospital for a while I imagine?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And now you live in a group home, is that right?
Jeffrey: I live at the [unclear].
Facilitator: Right, do you live on your own?
Jeffrey: No with another four people.
Facilitator: Right.
Jeffrey: Another three people.
Facilitator: And there’s support for you all the time?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And how do you deal with that?
Jeffrey: Good.
Facilitator: Yeah? You don’t mind?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: No? Alright then. What about your typical day then, how does that go?
Jeffrey: My days?
Facilitator: Yeah, what do you do?
Jeffrey: Just sleep or listen to the stereo.
Facilitator: Do you hang out with the other people in the house?
Jeffrey: Sometimes.
Facilitator: Sometimes. But you keep to yourself mostly?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And how do you find the workers?
Jeffrey: Good.
Facilitator: You’ve never had any problems?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: So when do you get to paint?
Jeffrey: When I feel like it.
Facilitator: Whenever you want?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Do you still have your family around?
Jeffrey: Yeah, they’re in Mossman.
Facilitator: Okay. Is that an indigenous community specifically?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: It is. Okay. And how do they react to you not being able to walk and things?
Jeffrey: They get used to it.
Facilitator: They don’t mind?
Jeffrey: No. I teach them what to do. Like I teach them how to feed me and…
Facilitator: So you tell them what you want them to do. And they don’t mind doing it?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Oh that’s good. Do you get to go to Mossman much?
Jeffrey: I suppose just for a day and come back.
Facilitator: So you get to go there for the day?
Jeffrey: Yeah. Just spend the day with my family and come back down.
Facilitator: So who is your family these days? Have you got brothers and sisters?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: A big family?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So do you get to go and see them dancing now?
Jeffrey: No, not yet.
Facilitator: You haven’t done it.
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: Fair enough. Did you have anything specifically that you wanted to tell me about?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: Okay, fair enough. So is that your life? There was dancing and didgeridoo and then there was an accident and now there is painting. Is that basically how it goes?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: You’ve done some pretty big exhibitions though too haven’t you?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So where have you exhibited?
Jeffrey: Well the tanks. These old tanks.
Facilitator: Tanks?
Jeffrey: Water tanks.
Facilitator: Oh right. So you paint on the tanks?
Jeffrey: Yeah. They put them up on the wall.
Facilitator: So you’re art’s around Gordonvale is it?
Jeffrey: No, Cairns.
Facilitator: Cairns.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So do you like living up in Gordonvale?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: How come you don’t live in Mossman still?
Jeffrey: Oh my family can’t do what the carers do.
Facilitator: So they can do it for a day, but it’s hard for them to do it all the time?
Jeffrey: Yeah. It’s hard for them.
Facilitator: And you don’t mind that? Would you prefer to be in Mossman?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: [Unclear]
Jeffrey: Yeah football, football and all that.
Facilitator: Yeah, you’d rather be there playing football.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: But you’re alright with all your music and…
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: …and hanging out at Gordonvale.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So what about work? Do you work?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: Have you got a girlfriend?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: No?
Jeffrey: No, have you got a boyfriend?
Facilitator: No.
Jeffrey: No?
Facilitator: No.
Jeffrey: Oh well.
Facilitator: But those sort of things, are they sorts of things that you miss?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Do you think it would be possible? To work or…?
Jeffrey: I’m hoping for someone.
Facilitator: So you’re not ruling it out?
Jeffrey: No. I’m waiting for someone to come.
Facilitator: Yeah. Just wait.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Fair enough. So when you paint, is it just for something to do?
Jeffrey: With me, art’s no use if you want to paint for someone, [unclear], I just paint.
Facilitator: Right. So people ask you to paint for them? Specific things?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So you wouldn’t just pick up the brush and paint because you feel like it?
Jeffrey: No. I’ve nothing to do in the house. And if they want me to paint, well I’ll just paint.
Facilitator: Alright, so the workers ask you to paint?
Jeffrey: No. I’d like if they asked me. I will.
Facilitator: Have you got copies of some of the painting that you’ve done?
Jeffrey: Some of them.
Facilitator: Have you? So it is almost like work for you?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So you sell them and people buy them and sometimes they ask you for particular paintings?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Right. So what are some of the paintings that you’ve painted for people? Do you remember?
Jeffrey: The desert.
Facilitator: The desert? So you’ve done a desert.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And…?
Jeffrey: Barra.
Facilitator: Right.
Jeffrey: Snake.
Facilitator: A snake.
Jeffrey: Barramundi.
Facilitator: So you stick with the Aboriginal things?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Are they things that are stories for you?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So you do paint stories?
Jeffrey: No, I just paint the animals.
Facilitator: You’re not trying to tell the stories, just painting?
Jeffrey: Yeah, sometimes.
Facilitator: But sometimes you do try to tell stories?
Jeffrey: But I forget about what the story is.
Facilitator: So is it just some matter of forgetting it or is it what happens because of your accident?
Jeffrey: No, it’s not my accident.
Facilitator: Right, you just don’t remember the stories?
Jeffrey: No, because I’ve been raised up with white people. I was fostered out. When I was back in Mossman. When I was old enough I had to learn about the stories.
Facilitator: Right so you were fostered out from a very young age were you?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: How old?
Jeffrey: Well I was a baby.
Facilitator: Really? That young.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So when was the first time you remember going back to Mossman?
Jeffrey: I don’t know.
Facilitator: You don’t remember. So what was it like being fostered out?
Jeffrey: Very good.
Facilitator: You liked it?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Living with different people?
Jeffrey: Yeah. Staying in Orange.
Facilitator: Orange? Like down south?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: That’s a long way from Mossman.
Jeffrey: Well we moved to Cobourg. Cobourg and Marlong.
Facilitator: Wow.
Jeffrey: And then [unclear].
Facilitator: So you were fostered out to places that weren’t even near your home.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And you didn’t mind?
Jeffrey: No, because my foster parents, they were ministers.
Facilitator: Oh, so you had the one set of foster parents?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Okay and they were ministers.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Okay and you liked them?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Do you still see them?
Jeffrey: My foster dad, he lives on Mareeba.
Facilitator: Mareeba, okay. And your foster mum?
Jeffrey: She passed away.
Facilitator: Okay, so you grew up in a church environment.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Do you still like the church?
Jeffrey: I haven’t been to church for a long time now.
Facilitator: No? It’s not very important to you?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: So you do still see your foster dad?
Jeffrey: Yeah, when he comes and sees me.
Facilitator: So he comes to visit?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: That’s great. And was he around when you had your accident?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: I’m just trying to think about your family life, that’s all. You sound like you’ve lead a fairly lonely life, except when you were a kid, when you were with your foster parents.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Yeah?
Jeffrey: They adopted three more Aboriginal people.
Facilitator: Right. And do you still see those people?
Jeffrey: One foster brother passed away. And I haven’t seen the other one.
Facilitator: So you don’t really have a relationship with them?
Jeffrey: Yeah, but they’re all up Gladstone.
Facilitator: So you weren’t really lonely at all?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: Your Mum and Dad are in Mossman, is that what it is?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: So when you grew up and got old enough, did you go back to them or did it happen earlier?
Jeffrey: I went back when I was a lot older.
Facilitator: Right. But your foster parents adopted other children, but they didn’t adopt you, is that right?
Jeffrey: Yeah, they adopted me.
Facilitator: They did adopt you, okay. But there were records of your birth parents?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: How did you find them?
Jeffrey: Through the Welfare Department I think.
Facilitator: Right. And you went looking for them?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Gosh. So did they have other children?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Okay, so you’ve got quite a lot of brothers and sisters around the place, between foster parents and birth parents?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: You could almost be related to everybody in town.
Jeffrey: There was eight of us.
Facilitator: Eight!
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: My gosh. Where do you fall in the family line?
Jeffrey: Second last.
Facilitator: Right, so number seven of eight.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Wow. But you only grew up with three other kids?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: That is a big family. Did you enjoy it though, having a big family?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And you still see them all every now and then?
Jeffrey: Yeah. Sometimes they come here to see me.
Facilitator: Yeah. What about other friendships? Do you do social things?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: It’s really just the other people that live in your house and other people that work at the house and your family.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Do you think it would be different if you were in a different part of Queensland?
Jeffrey: It would be hot!
Facilitator: It would be hot you reckon? Just the same but hotter. That’s fair enough. Okay. So you do you know what you want to do with the rest of your life?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: No?
Jeffrey: Just find a woman and that’s it.
Facilitator: That’s it. You just want a girl?
Jeffrey: Yeah. Stand by your man and all that.
Facilitator: Okay, that’s a fair ambition. You’re not interested in painting anymore?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Yeah. So you’ll keep painting and keep looking for a girlfriend hey?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: And keep working with the guys at the house?
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Fair enough. Do you have anything else you wanted to talk about today?
Jeffrey: No.
Facilitator: No? Well if you think of anything, you can ring me.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Facilitator: Yeah.
Jeffrey: Have we got your phone number?
Facilitator: I think so, yes. But I’ll give it to them again in a minute. And I’ll ring you back in another little while just to check and see if there’s nothing else you want to say, okay?
Jeffrey: Yeah. Okay.
Facilitator: Alright, thanks Jeff.
Jeffrey: No worries