Doreen is the daughter of Maudie Jugadai and Phillip Lane and the granddaughter (on her mother’s side) of Timothy (Timmy) Jugadai Tjungurrayi (1920-1988) and his second wife, Bessie. Philip Lane is a Warumungu man, from a region located 40km from Tennant Creek. Her grandfather, Timmy was born in 1920 in the dry Alalbi creek bed near Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory. Timmy’s father was a Ngalia (southern Warlpiri) man and his mother a Luritja woman. Timmy and his other wife Narputta Nangala Jugadai were the founding members of Ikuntji Artists. Timmmy, who had been painting since the 1970s at Papunya Tula Artists, inspired his wives and children to paint. Leading onto a tradition of painting story and country that continues today.

Doreen has four siblings, Joseph, Susie, Isabel and Serita. Joseph, Susie and Isabel are also artists at Ikuntji Artists. Doreen paints women’s hunting story on canvas and also makes jewellery from hand collected ininti seeds and gum nuts which she hand paints. Doreen works at Haasts Bluff Aged Care with her sister, Susie. Doreen has been a director at Ikuntji Artists and has been painting since the early days of the art centre.

In 2022, Doreen participated in the screen-printing workshops at Ikuntji Artists and developed her first fabric-by-the-metre design: Bush Trip. It tells the story of her childhood memories of going swimming in the afternoon, after school, at Ulumbauru. “Everyone jumped on the back of the truck and drove out sitting on the tray to go swimming. We had a fun time there.”