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Ena Lane was born in Haasts Bluff in 1957. Her father was Tom Long Taltalpana Tjapanangka (later known as Long Tom) and her mother was Molly (Marli) Napurrula. She grew up at Haasts Bluff and married her first husband Peter Tjampitjinpa, with whom she had three sons, Chris, Douglas and another who passed away. She later married Philip Lane Tjampitjinpa with whom she lives in Papunya.
Ena’s father’s family came into Haasts Bluff from their country around Lupul in the 1920s. Later they moved to Papunya where Long Tom worked as a police tracker. He also taught Ena the stories of Lupul which she now paints, in a style which builds on the way he famously painted it, although Ena said she had “taught myself” to paint. Her mother Molly also used to paint in Haasts Bluff although not in Kintore where she is now living.
Ena attended school in Papunya but has never been employed until painting for Papunya Tjupi Art Centre in Papunya since 2008. She works by herself and has said she began painting because she was “thinking about I might do something about my mother’s and father’s side. I wanted to carry on.”
(c) Info courtesy Papunya Tjupi Artists