As a young teenage girl, Nura learnt weaving in the Ernabella craft room (the precursor to today’s art centre) and also made hooked floor rugs and knitted jumpers. She learnt wood carving (punu) and made snakes, birds, tingka (lizards), and rabbits. She may have also dabbled in batik in her early days as an artist as this was a prominent technique in the craft room in the days before digital cataloguing of artworks.
When Ernabella Arts became involved in the Alice Springs Beanie Festival around 2000, Nura came back to the art centre initially to make mukata (beanies), but she also became involved in the exploration of painting with acrylics on canvas and paper.
As an elderly, senior woman, Nura began expressing stories from her childhood, particularly concerning mamu (spooky spirits or monsters), which soon became her signature. She became one of the region’s most sought after artists. She applied her naïve, quirky style successfully to the mediums of painting, printmaking and occasionally ceramics, endearing herself to art-lovers and collectors everywhere.
Nura passed away in 2016 surrounded by family after living for many years at Ernabella Aged Care. Her granddaughter Nicole Rupert has been inspired by Nura’s distinct imagery and she continues her artistic tradition by creating fun and playful designs similar in style to her grandmother’s.
