Original Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art

Connected tofamily, landand sea.

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Shayna’s painting of three turtles swimming beside a dotted coastline

Grounded by Land, Guided by Sea Original painting by Shayna

Shayna smiling outdoors

The artist behind the work

Meet Shayna

An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artist, connected to family, land and sea.

Shayna’s paintings bring those connections together — the movement of the ocean, the grounding of the land, and the love of family. Each original is painted by hand, with a story that leaves room for your own.

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Original artwork

Art by Shayna · painted by hand
Digital room mockup showing the 51 × 51 cm three-turtle painting above a compact oak chest

Digital room mockup · approximate scale, based on 51 × 51 cm — see “Artwork” for the real painting

Available original

Grounded by Land, Guided by Sea

$1,000 AUD

Free tracked shipping Australia-wide · included in the price

Medium
Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions
51 × 51 cm (W × H)

The story behind the painting

This painting brings together my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage through family, connection and the history between them. Families gathered together on the land sit alongside turtles moving through the water, bringing masculine and feminine, grounding and flow into balance.

Read the full story

For me, the turtles represent letting go and trusting the process, while the land holds grounding and strength — the courage to keep walking through life’s challenges, trusting that you’ll find your way.

The reveal · watch the light move across the dots
Digital room mockup showing the 35.5 × 46 cm whale tail painting above a compact oak entryway console

Digital room mockup · approximate scale, based on 35.5 × 46 cm — see “Artwork” for the real painting

Available original

Into the Blue

$299 AUD

Free tracked shipping Australia-wide · included in the price

Medium
Acrylic on stretched canvas
Framing
No external frame
Dimensions
35.5 × 46 cm (W × H)

A note from the studio: a soft trace of pencil remains visible on the canvas. It reads almost like shadow beneath the water, but it isn’t part of the finished design — so this original is offered at a reduced price.

About the painting

The whale travels farther than almost any creature on earth — long journeys across whole oceans, guided by something older than memory. It dives to depths where no light reaches, for love, for family, for the things that matter most. And still, it knows when to rise, break the surface and breathe.

Read the full story

Into the Blue carries that rhythm: a single tail lifting from a turquoise sea, ringed in gold, set in motion by dotted currents that never quite stand still.

If you have ever made a long journey of your own — left somewhere safe to find something true, or given everything for the people you love and needed, finally, a breath of your own — let this painting hang where you will see it each morning. A quiet reminder: the deep is where you grow. The surface is where you return.

Digital room mockup showing the 36 × 46 cm two-turtle painting above a sage-grey bedroom chest

Digital room mockup · approximate scale, based on 36 × 46 cm — see “Artwork” for the real painting

Available original

Together in the Tide

$600 AUD

Free tracked shipping Australia-wide · included in the price

Medium
Acrylic on stretched canvas
Framing
No external frame
Dimensions
36 × 46 cm (W × H)

About the painting

The turquoise in this painting is not imagined — it is the exact colour of the water where sea turtles swim home, matched by eye to a real shoreline. Their shells are deep black, the colour of the volcanic sand beneath them. Half the canvas rests in dark, open water; half rises toward the light of the shallows.

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Together in the Tide holds that line between deep and light — the way life asks us to move through both.

Turtles carry their home with them, yet they always know the way back. If you have been finding your way home to yourself — learning to move freely, to give back, to trust that there is enough — let these two swim on your wall. A daily reminder that abundance is not found. It is remembered.

From the archive

Sold works

Originals that have already found their homes.

Digital room mockup showing the sold 51 × 51 cm three-turtle painting above an oak sideboard in a coastal living room

Digital room mockup · approximate scale, based on 51 × 51 cm — see “Artwork” for the real painting

Sold original

Where the Shallows Meet the Deep

Sold

Medium
Acrylic on stretched canvas
Framing
No external frame
Dimensions
51 × 51 cm (W × H)

About the painting

Three turtles cross the canvas together — one large, two small — moving from bright turquoise shallows into the deep, open blue. Golden lines trace their shells. Dotted currents and gathering circles run beside them, like the paths and places that hold a family together along the way.

Read the full story

No one is taught to swim the open sea alone. The little ones follow close, learning the current by watching the one ahead — when to drift, when to push on, where the warm water is. And the one who leads keeps glancing back, making sure no one is left behind.

For anyone who has ever guided someone they love into something new — a first home, a first child, a first leap of faith — or been the one following, trusting the way ahead. A reminder that the deep is less frightening when you cross it together.

Commissions

A painting made for you

Ever looked at one of Shayna's paintings and wished it were yours — your turtle, your colours, your story? She takes on a small number of commissions, each one painted by hand from your idea.

Every commission is an original, hand-dotted acrylic on canvas, quoted per painting. Smaller canvases begin around $500; larger pieces are typically from $1,000. You'll receive a clear quote before any paint touches the canvas.

  1. 01

    Share your idea

    Tell us the animal, the colours and the feeling you're after — a turtle, a whale tail, anything from the sea.

  2. 02

    A concept to approve

    Shayna sketches the composition and comes back to you with the plan before any paint touches the canvas.

  3. 03

    Painted by hand

    Each commission is an original acrylic on stretched canvas, dotted entirely by hand — no prints, no shortcuts.

  4. 04

    Posted to you

    Once the painting is finished, it is packaged with care and posted to your door, ready to hang.

Prefer to chat? DM Shayna on Instagram