In the remote Aboriginal community of Doomadgee, in north-west Queensland, you'd be hard-pressed to find an artist as well respected as Barry Johnny.
Just three years ago, Mr Johnny was enjoying a successful career with hundreds of his vibrant landscape and animal paintings exhibited and sold around the country.
But that all changed overnight
At 54, Mr Johnny suffered a stroke and was flown to Townsville for lifesaving treatment.
He woke up in the hospital with significant memory loss and broken speech.
Dazed and confused, this was the beginning of Mr Johnny's long road to recovery.
"When I returned home, I didn't paint because I couldn't remember a lot of the animals' names I'd painted – goanna, crocodile, barramundi – and I couldn't remember people's names," he said.
Making life more palatable
After returning to Doomadgee, Mr Johnny sought comfort in the craft he loved.
With the help of NDIS support provider My Pathway, he began to inch toward improvement.
"When I was in Townsville, in hospital, I wanted to do paintings. I didn't know a lot of things, I'd forgotten," Mr Johnny said.
"I don't know how I ended up like this. I get upset sometimes. I was a free man.
"But [when I started painting again] it helped with my memory, remembering how to draw the birds and the serpents."
Although he found solace in his art, a grief-stricken and defeated Mr Johnny became detached and reclusive from the world around him.
"He wasn't mixing with his community. He just stayed home. It was his safe place," disability support worker Lee Brown said.
He is the program coordinator for My Pathway which runs services out of its Doomadgee facility. A team of workers there are helping Mr Johnny, and others like him, get back on their feet.
The First Nations artist has been receiving speech therapy via telehealth sessions with North West Community Rehab, assisted by James Cook University students in Mount Isa.
And they all agree that it's his art that gets him talking.
"At each session, Barry brings in a different painting so they can talk about it. These sessions are really making a difference. Barry loves talking about all his paintings," Mr Brown said.
"He has about 40 on the go in his room at the moment. It's a great way to make him think about all his artwork and it encourages him to use his words.
"Talking about what colour combinations go together and about all the shapes and techniques he uses helps with repairing the connections in his brain damaged by the stroke," Mr Brown said.
Art proves life-changing
Mr Brown helped to convert a shed at the My Pathway facility into an art space for Mr Johnny who wakes up each morning with a special place to go to.
Through his art, Mr Johnny is developing relationships with other people at the facility.
"I drink coffee and chat with everyone. I'm so happy to be around everybody. I have a lot of respect for them, and they have a lot of respect for me," Mr Johnny said.
"He likes to have a yarn to all the guys welding and doing carpentry in our Pathway shed," Mr Brown said.
"The welders are making vases at the moment, so they've asked Barry and another participant, Beau, to paint them."
Mr Johnny's artwork tells a story of his journey, Mr Brown said.
"We've taken people who have visited already and heard about his artwork up to his house before, and he's laid all his artwork out under the mango tree and talked about it to them and sold pieces there."
The road ahead
Three years on from his stroke, Mr Johnny is preparing for a Cape York art exhibition he will feature in later this year.
He's been helping Mr Johnny get his car roadworthy in preparation for the return of his licence.
"I'll see the doctor soon to find out whether I can get my licence back. It would feel good to have that independence again. I am hopeful," Mr Johnny said.
"I'll get in my car and my dog will be in the front, and my kitten will be in the back, and we will go wherever we want to," he said.
