thomas began painting in december 1987, a few years after settling at kiwirrkurra. his cousin warlimpirrnga had already made a name for himself as an artist and he encouraged thomas to paint too. thomas and walala joined the papunya tula artists, and they and warlimpirrnga eventually gained fame internationally as the tjapaltjarri brothers. although he normally paints using "tjapaltjarri" as a surname, thomas' skin name is "tjapangati".