Josie was born in 1954 at Santa Teresa. She has always lived a semi-traditional lifestyle, spending her early years foraging - searching for bush foods. This was the way of life for Central Desert families throughout the generations, this was their formal education, what living each day was all about - just as her mother had done, her mothers mother and her grandmothers mother before that.

Josie’s first job was working at the Santa Teresa mission as a cook, with memories of “makin’ em all soup” She met her husband Robin there, and after her bush marriage moved with him to an area of Utopia called Mt Swan. Together they have 7 children. She has also “grown up” her younger sisters son.

Josie began her career as an Aboriginal Artist at a relatively young age by comparison to other Aboriginal Artists, her earlier works are quite typical of “Utopia Art”, with much line work depicting Bodypaint designs, and many traditional symbols seen in Central Desert Dot paintings. Her most recent collection titled “Bush Tucker” portrays the abundance of colours found within the landscape of the Central Desert.