The Designer/Artist

Will (Ngarru) Towney

I am a proud Wiradjuri man from Gilgandra, NSW, which lays alongside of the banks of the sandy Castlereagh River.

Art has been my escape from depression & feeling down about life’s pressures. It’s my safe place where i can get lost in the moment.

Something unique about myself in which I've known from an early age and have adapted to live with for my entire life is that I'm colour blind.

Having adopted this genetically inherited defect from my Irish Grandfather, it has at times been confusing for myself when dealing with colours.

Below is a typical Ishihara test plate, part of a diagnostic test used all around the world.

If you see the no.74, then your colour-vision should be normal. If you are pretty colour-blind then you will see the no.21. But if you see absolutely no number, and you're a freaky fulla like me, you're reassuringly as useless as me. 

This condition effects only 8% of men and 0.5% of women worldwide.

It definently has its downsides, such as stopping me from joining the Royal Australian Airforce to fight for my country. Even though I can see through camouflage and have better night vision then most people. Apparently infrared lights would have been an issue.

BUT even though I'm colour blind, I've worked in the electrical industry for 18 years and haven't made a mistake. Being an artist, I do sometimes have trouble identifying colours. Some greens look grey, but my coping mechanism is to ask a woman... after all they do have less chances of being colour blind! 

I hope you come to appreciate my gift and passion as I share a snippet of my culture with you.