"I get up at 7.30 and call the boys. Once they're washed and dressed, we all sit down to Weet-Bix, eggs, bacon and toast. Wayne leaves for the office at Lockhart River council, and I take Isaiah to school, drop Zane off with my mum and then head to the arts centre.

Lockhart's a small town of about 800. It has a grocery store, a beer canteen, a primary school, a council building with a bank and a post office, and a new health centre. The old one was turned into an arts centre and that's where me and the rest of the Art Gang are based.

Inspiration for my work comes from everything around me: the sea, the patterns in the sand, the changing mood of the sky, the ebb and flow of the tide. When I started painting I found it difficult to draw in the traditional way, so I adopted my own abstract style. As well as brushes, I use paint rollers and fishing lines, bur mostly my fingers. I think that's from watching my grandmother and my great-aunts sit on the beach and describe things to each other by drawing in the sand.

The old girls are now in their eighties, but they think they're still in their twenties — they dress like young girls and wear dangly earrings. They often come down to the arts centre to make grass baskets and necklaces from shells and gidgee beans. They pull up the long grasses from the bush and make orange dye with the root of a tree; gidgee beans are gathered from the forest floor, and they search for seashells when the tide is out. The old girls sit for hours under a mango tree, threading and weaving, gossiping and telling stories. If I join them, the yarn is always so good, I can't blink for a second.

Lockhart River, like all the other Aboriginal homelands in Queensland, is like an extended family; so many things are still shared out between us. If, for instance, a few of the men have been out in the bush since dawn, hunting for wild cow or pig or kangaroo, they might get back for lunch and come over to the arts centre and give us some meat. It's great barbecued, and we use the skin of the kangaroo to make drums.

One of my earliest inspirations for painting was watching my dad paint the bodies of dancers for our traditional ceremonies. In preparation, he would go into the rainforest to find charcoal, white clay and red and yellow ochre in the rocks. Sometimes I'd go with him and watch him make the coloured pastes. If I was lucky, he'd let me paint the children's faces with my fingers. Sometimes he'd paint markings onto my hand so I could then stamp them onto the bodies.

I was only 14 when Dad died. I had to give up my education and get a job on a government-assisted youth scheme, helping out at the school, because Mum needed extra money bringing up my four younger siblings. But I could still go along to art classes that had been set up for teenagers at the local primary school. There was soon a whole group of us and we became known as the Lockhart River Art Gang. We started to get recognition and began having exhibitions. Now we're getting interest from all over. This month I've got my first ever show in London, at the October Gallery. Dad would be so proud of me. His chest would be up and he'd have a smile on his face every day.

At 3, I pick up the little one from Mum and collect the big one from school. If it's hot, I might take them to the rainforest, where there's a swimming hole called Crystal Cascade. It's so peaceful — all you can hear are the birds. At the weekends, Wayne and I often take the kids camping at one of the beaches. We just find a spot and stick poles in the sand, throw a canvas over and build a fire. At the end of one beach, there are thick mangroves. Although the mozzies can eat you alive, the mangroves are great for shellfish, which we cook on the fire and use sticks to pull out the meat.

If we've got the boat, we can be gone all day. We might catch coral trout, snapper, barra or mangrove jack. Then there's the big ones, like the dugong and freshwater turtle. They come up to the shallow waters to graze on the sea grasses — that's the best time to catch them. I like to cut the meat up into slices, wrap it in foil and then chuck it onto heated rocks in the sand. When you've had a good day, it's great just to sit with your food and watch the sun go down.

Once we're home and the children are in bed, I like to put my feet up and watch a bit of TV. I love the National Geographic Channel and Home and Away. I'll then make a cup of hot Milo and get ready for bed. At the moment, I'm thinking about a tombstone I'm having made for my father's grave. Everyone's going to come and see it when it's ready. It makes me very happy that I'm able to do something for him. It puts a big smile on my face."