Shirley Purdie, daughter of Sandy Thomas and Thomas Madigan who were originally from Violet Valley, was born and grew up on Mabel Downs Station, Western Australia. She worked at Mabel Downs Station as a domestic and in 1967 moved to work at Texas Downs Station.
In 2007 Purdie was the winner of the Blake Prize for Religious Art and in 2008 she was named Aboriginal Person of the Year in the East Kimberley Aboriginal Achievement Awards. Purdie is a a senior artist at Warmun Community (Turkey Creek) in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.